


Violet Storm

by orphan_account



Category: The Yogscast
Genre: F/M, Implied Drug Use/Abuse, M/M, Mind Control, Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-23
Updated: 2016-01-16
Packaged: 2018-04-23 02:59:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 49,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4860488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the Flux began to spread, nobody could stop it. It ravaged the landscape of the island of Electria, with tentacles and beaks and maws, and anyone foolish enough to stand in its way would inevitably be consumed by the raging violet storm.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. SOS

“Nano? Nano snap out of it!”

Nano did not respond. She simply sat there, her fingers entwined in the sickly purple grass, humming the tune to ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ in quiet, ethereal tones. Lalna had been attempting to snap her out of her trance for over half an hour now, but to no avail. He was starting to panic; it had never gone on for so long before and he could see small tendrils of grass curling around her ankles and wrists.

“Nano please, we have to leave!”

“Mother calls me.” Nano whispered, and alarming otherworldly tone to her voice. Lalna was forced into a frantic dance as the grass began grasping at his ankles. Behind him he could hear the trees groan with the effort of trying to reach him. “Let’s go to Mother, together.”

“No! We have to go home. Ignore the voices, please Nano!” Lalna pleaded. Nano stood up, but didn’t turn around.

“I’m coming.” She said, getting to her feet so fast that it must have hurt. She broke out into a sprint, heading deeper into the flux forest.

“No, wait!” Lalna cried, giving chase. He quickly lost sight of Nano among the trees, but he could hear her footfalls up ahead. Since he was so focused on catching her, he didn’t notice the shifting ground up ahead until it was too late. A huge, writhing tentacle burst from the ground and curled around his leg. Lalna let out a scream as it lifted him up and flung him into the air with incredible strength. He just barely managed to activate his jetpack in time to avoid becoming a splat on the ground.

Lalna lowered himself gently down. The tentacle had flung him all the way out of the flux forest and onto pure ground. He stared off towards the forest and slouched in despair; there was no possible way he would be able to catch up with Nano now, especially since the sun was setting and the monsters would be out soon. Lalna would just have to return home and hope that she would be OK through the night.

He would search more in the morning.

 ***

Honeydew sat on the edge of his bed, swinging his legs and watching the television screen with rapt attention. He had finally convinced Xephos to issue an order to hook Yoglabs up to the Voltzan broadcasting network for some actual entertainment, finally.

One of Honeydew’s favourite shows had just started when the TV emitted a sharp whine and the screen cut over to the Voltzan seal. A voice blared through the room:

“ _Emergency announcement from Mittret! All citizens stand at attention!_ ”

Honeydew nearly fell off his bed in fright - it was very loud.

“ _The Voltzan Catastrophe Centre has received news of a Flux infection off the west coast. Our Commander and President Emery Bay issues a call to arms for those willing to assist in clean-up and purification. In addition, the VCC has received several SOS reports from Electria, and is standing by for orders. Do not panic, missile launch should not affect you._ ”

With a zap and a short buzz of white noise, the screen cut back to its usual programme. Honeydew stared blankly at it for a few seconds before blindly pawing around for the remote to shut it off. He hopped off his bed and headed out into the bright white hallways.

Honeydew knocked twice on the door to Xephos’ office and entered without waiting for a response.

“Oh, hey Honeydew! Erm, I’m a little busy at the moment could you wait a little?” Xephos said distractedly. He was shuffling large amounts of paper around on his desk, and the laptop to his right was beeping incessantly. A cup of cold coffee sat abandoned beside it.

“Uuuh, no.” Honeydew crossed his arms. “I wanted to know whether or not you heard that emergency broadcast?”

“Yes, Dew, I bloody did.” Xephos snapped, having just dropped a large stack of reports. “What do you think this is all about? The bloody government wants _my_ help!” Then he added in a bitter undertone. “After all the attacks, the nerve…”

“So are you gonna help ‘em?”

“Excuse me?” Xephos said, looking up. “Am I going to help them?”

“That’s what I asked.”

“No.”

“What? But didn’t you hear all that about the Flux, and the SOS call?”

“Yes, and they can deal with it themselves. I’m busy.” Xephos brushed a few loose post-it notes from his desk. Spinning his chair, he set to typing at his laptop.

“Xeph-”

“No.”

“ _Xephos!_ ” Honeydew grabbed the back of Xephos’ chair and spun him around. The spaceman crossed his arms and leaned back, scowling.

“I could have you evicted from this office in a heartbeat.” Xephos said dangerously.

“Fucking try me.” Honeydew said. “You have to help. Everyone knows the government of Electria’re sucked-up ass-turds, if something has made them call for help you know it’s serious.”

“Serious or not I have a lab to run. It’s not really any of my business.” Xephos said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

“You’re an asshole.”

“I hear that a lot.” Xephos huffed, spinning his chair away. “Now shoo, these E-mails won’t answer themselves.”

 ***

Lalna woke before the birds the next morning. It was not yet light enough out to chase away the monsters, but it sure as hell would be after he’d finished packing. He had decided; he wasn’t coming home without Nano. She could pretty much be his sister, and he wasn’t about to abandon family.

Guilt churned Lalna’s stomach as he stuffed supplies into his rucksack. He couldn’t help but feel like this was all his fault. He had gotten her infected and- oh gods what if she died because of it? He didn’t even want to think about that.

Lalna slung his pack over his shoulder and trudged out as soon as he could see the first rays of morning light shining over the horizon. The Flux forest was a worryingly short trek away, and Lalna could swear its border wasn’t this close yesterday. Steeling himself, he trudged over the threshold onto tainted ground.

The air had an unusual thickness to it, feeling heavy in Lalna’s lungs as he struggled to breathe. The ground grasped feebly at his feet as he walked, and for the first time in weeks he could hear whispers in his head. He scratched at the exposed flux on his arm and looked around. Nano could be anywhere by now, and he wasn’t sure where to begin looking.

After a moment of consideration, Lalna decided to begin his search where he had lost her earlier. It took a good few minutes from the air, but he managed to find the clearing from yesterday and set himself gently down. The flames from his jetpack set his bag ablaze, and Lalna patted it out distractedly as he looked around. He didn’t think it possible, but the air around here was even thicker than ever.

Looking around, he spotted the trampled bushes that Nano had run through before. He followed the trail of snapped branches and disturbed grass, passing by a mound of dirt where the tainted tentacle had launched him earlier. The trail led a clear path through the sickly undergrowth. It was clear that Nano had been running with reckless abandon, as it was quite wide and Lalna had an easy time following.

The trees grew taller and taller the further along he walked, eventually sealing out most sunlight with their thick, dripping leaves. Nano’s trail led into a small tunnel. Lalna headed inside, fearing a long, dark trek, but the tunnel merely rose back to the surface several minutes later. For one, horrible moment Lalna thought he had lost the trail, but it picked up again once he entered thicker underbrush.

For hours Lalna walked with only the unnatural rusting of leaves and eerie whispers from the branches overhead. Suddenly his trail came to a halt when he slipped between two trees and was forced to catch himself before he plummeted off the edge of a sheer cliff that had sprung up before him. Looking down, he could see that the ravine ended in rushing rapids far below. He could not see its end, as the river followed the ravine around a corner and out of sight.

Lalna’s breath caught in his throat. Could Nano have jumped? He jet-packed to the other side of the ravine and looked around but found no disturbance in the vegetation to indicate that she had gone that way. Biting his lip, Lalna looked back down the ravine.

He had nothing else to go on, and so activated his jetpack and descended. He stopped just short of the frothing spray of the river and hovered along, following its path through the rock. Soon it came to an end in the form of a vicious waterfall. The rapids dropped into a long, dark hole and, squinting as hard as he could, Lalna could just barely make out where they collided with a pool at the bottom.

Lalna barely stopped to gather his wits before he descended into the cavern. The firelight from his jetpack illuminated the rough, purple-stained walls and sticky vines. Puddles of viscous goo pooled on the cave floor.

Lalna set down on the rock beside the river, which was a clear-ish purple and gave off an unnatural crystalline glint. He could barely see without the light from his jetpack, and so he dug around in his bag for a flashlight. Flicking it on he swung its beam around the cave, picking out where the river slid away into a hole in the rock. It didn’t look big enough for anything larger than a small pig to fit through, so he ruled that out as a possibility.

Then, the beam of his flashlight caught on something in the sand at the edge of the river. Lalna rushed over and knelt down.

“Oh gods no…” He breathed, letting Nano’s sapphire pendant dangle from his hand. So she had come this way, but where did she go? Tucking the pendant safely into his rucksack, Lalna straightened up.

After several further sweeps of the cavern he discovered a small tunnel hidden behind a large boulder. Without hesitation he plunged downward. The sloped ground was slippery and covered in soggy gravel that left Lalna scuffed and tired by the time he finally reached the bottom.

The cave he now found himself in was a sight to behold. Huge pillars of crystalline flux stretched from the floor to ceiling, and small streams of corrupted water trickled from the walls to form tiny rivers that snaked between the crystals. Strange flat, circular rocks formed a staircase up from the middle of the room towards a flat plateau above. Lalna ascended, careful not to slip and fall on the slimy purple rocks.

When he was about halfway up he caught sight of a figure collapsed at the very top of the staircase. His heart skipped a beat and he called:

“Nano! Nano can you hear me?”

The figure did not stir. Lalna raced up the last few stairs and knelt down beside her. His breath caught in his throat - she was still alive, he could see the steady rise and fall of her chest, but there was something wrong. Every inch of her skin that he could see was covered in flux. It shifted beneath her skin like tiny, writhing tendrils, and sent out bubbles that collected on the filmy surface of her skin. Without her pendant, the flux must have spread at an increased rate, especially in such a heavily infected place like this. Lalna shook Nano’s shoulder in a feeble attempt to rouse her.

It didn’t work.

Instead, Lalna was almost scared out of his skin at the sudden voice echoing throughout the cavern. It was high and ethereal, and he could almost feel it in his bones, throbbing behind his eyes.

“ _Why do you come here, to disturb my sanctuary? To rob me of my child?_ ”

Lalna spun wildly around, catching sight of something forming on the flat plateau before him. Shards sloughed from the crystals in waves, swirling past him as if blown by unseen winds. They swirled around each other, slotting like a mosaic to form the vague shape of a woman. Long trails of energy extended from her shoulders and arms with the illusion of silk. Though the figure had no discernible mouth, she spoke with resonating clarity.

“ _You are weak, unfit. Your wear my gift but you do not deserve it._ ”

“What have you done to Nano?” Lalna demanded, attempting to be forceful even though he was shaking in fear.

“ _Consumed, pure, my daughter will join me in my conquest. You will not. You will die._ ”

“W-who are you?”

“ _I am Mother._ ”

The figure exploded in a blast of energy that blew Lalna off his feet and peppered him with needle thin shards of crystal. He landed hard on the steps down. Gasping for breath he scrambled to his feet. He needed to get to Nano, to get her out of here, but the figure, Mother, now nothing but a raging storm of tainted energy, had descended the steps towards him and blocked him off from reaching the plateau.

Lalna was forced to flee the cavern when razor sharp shards were flung his way. He was hit by more than a few by the time he reached the tunnel out and ducked into it. He didn’t know if the storm could follow him up, but he wasn’t going to risk stopping.

“I’m so sorry, Nano. I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Lalna whimpered to himself as he ran, fuelled by pain and terror. His tired legs slipped on the gravelly ground but he couldn’t stop.

Lalna burst out into the larger cavern. With numb, shaking hands he fumbled with his jetpack and activated it. The force at which he shot upwards was disorienting, and Lalna nearly flew into the waterfall in his terrified scramble to get out, taking a faceful of disgusting purple spray in the process.

He shot out of the ravine and up into the sky, just missing the thrashing tentacles attempting to grab him by mere inches. The land far below him was alive with movement. Monsters and vegetation alive thrashed on the sickly purple ground, and their screeches of rage reached Lalna’s ears even through the rushing of wind.

He fled all the way home, crash-landing painfully in the field of daybloom. Lalna curled up into a shaking ball, blood seeping from his many cuts and tears from his eyes. He had failed to save Nano; he was too much of a coward. Who knew what was going to happen to her, if he could even save her after all that.

Something brushed against his arm and he looked up to see the furry face of Tiddles, their cat, looking down at him through luminous eyes. She meowed softly and nudged him again. Lalna sat up, wiping his eyes with the hem of his lab coat, and scooped Tiddles into his arms. She purred loudly as Lalna stroked her fur.

“I don’t know what to do.” He told her. Tiddles just kept purring complacently. “Of course you don’t know either. You’re a cat.”

She meowed and attempted to wriggle from his grasp. He let her, and she trotted off through the flowers. Lalna let his hands fall into his lap and he hung his head.

“Help me.” He whimpered to himself. “I can’t stay here, I need help.”

 ***

Thinking about it, Honeydew probably should have expected another emergency broadcast. However, he was not and therefore caught unaware and jolted from his thoughts by the loud siren as his television spontaneously activated.

“ _Emergency announcement from Mittret! All citizens stand at attention!_ ” A voice from the TV announced. “ _The VCC continues to battle the Flux threat at the western border. An emergency call for aid from the Becropolian government has been received, and troops are to begin movement at once. In addition, Mittret Command has received word that the shore-bound facility of ‘Yoglabs’ has agreed to a cease-fire and will help with the cause._ ”

Honeydew did a double take. He thumbed the power button and raced out into the hall. Once again he found himself at the door to Xephos’ office. Like last time, he knocked and entered without waiting.

“Ah, hello Honeydew.”

Honeydew opened his mouth to speak, but Xephos cut him off.

“Yes, yes, you’re here to ask me about the broadcast.” Xephos stood up from his chair and shuffled to the opposite side of his desk. He grabbed a stack of papers and straightened them neatly against its mahogany top. “Let’s just say I had a change of heart. Our helicopter to Mittret leaves at 5 AM tomorrow.”

Honeydew blinked at him owlishly. “Our… What?”

“Our helicopter to Mittret leaves at 5 AM.” Xephos repeated, not looking at him.

“What?! You could’a given me some bloody warning before you scheduled things about me-” He waved his arms “ _Without_ me!”

“I meant to, but it must have slipped my mind. Sorry, friend.”

“ _Sorry, friend._ ” Honeydew mimicked. “Un-fucking-believable.”

Xephos let out a frustrated grumble and tousled his hair. “I really am sorry. You should get some rest. I’ll- I’ll just-”

“Get some too. You look like you could do with some good shut-eye.”

“I can’t, I’ve got all these reports to document.”

“Nonsense. C’mon, out you go.”

Honeydew grabbed Xephos by the sleeve of his lab coat and dragged him out the door.

“Really, Dew, I have _work_ to do!” Xephos protested.

“I’m sure it can wait.”

“It really can’t”

Honeydew released Xephos’ sleeve and crossed his arms. “Look, your health is more important than anyone naggin’ for your attention. I mean, look at you! You look terrible.”

“Thanks.” Xephos huffed sarcastically. “But really, I’m fine.”

“With those dark circles under your eyes and the way you’re swaying like that? My ass. Now, are you gonna get some rest or am I gonna have to knock you out?”

Xephos made a few lame noises of protest. Honeydew hooked an arm around his torso and led him down the hall.

“C’mon, you can come sleep with me.”


	2. Setting Up Camp

Honeydew couldn’t properly recall the first hour of the next morning. The only thing he knew was that it started with him being roughly poked awake, and ended with him sitting in a helicopter a hundred miles above the Voltzanian landscape.

Fluffy white clouds rolled past below them and the early-morning sun just barely caught on the sleek, black metal of the chopper. Honeydew could barely hear himself think over the roar of the rotor blades. Xephos sat in the seat beside him, scribbling at the paper on his clipboard with a ball-point pen.

“Are we there yet?” Honeydew whined, his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands.

“Not yet.” Xephos said distractedly.

“How long then?”

Xephos looked up. “I’d say, ooh, about another half-hour?”

“Whaaaat? Argh.”

As Xephos predicted, it was little over half an hour before the helicopter started to descend and Honeydew could see the concentric rings of Mittret ascending rapidly towards them. They touched down in the very centre of the city, along with ten other helicopters that Honeydew hadn’t noticed following.

They exited out onto a large area of tarmac. The air was heavy with smoke and smelt vaguely of petrol. There were many more vehicles parked there, from cars to tanks to one large, silver jet. A group of armoured guards had assembled to greet them. Honeydew partially hid behind Xephos as they approached along with the rest of the Yoglabs platoon.

“Ah, you must be Xephos.” A voice said. From among the line of Mittret guards stepped a tall, dark-skinned woman clad in blue-trimmed chrome armour. She held a rifle loosely at her side.

“Emery Bay.” Xephos said. There was a second’s pause in which the tension between the two groups was palpable.

“I would say it’s a pleasure to meet you, but it’s really not. Let’s keep this short.” Emery motioned with her rifle towards the silver jet Honeydew had noticed earlier. “My platoon will accompany yours to Becropolis. When you are ready, feel free to board.” Under her breath she added. “Now get out of my sight.”

“Noted.” Xephos said. He motioned for the Yoglabs employees to follow and broke the line, heading towards the jet. Honeydew rushed to catch up. With the way the Mittret guard were glaring at them he was fearful of lagging behind.

As they approached, Honeydew and Xephos broke away from the rest of the platoon and boarded the jet at the front. Honeydew didn’t know for sure but he assumed the others would be riding in the back.

The cabin Xephos and Honeydew were told to ride in was surprisingly warm and comfy. Honeydew made himself comfortable in a plush leather seat while Xephos briefly nipped down to have a word with his platoon. For a moment he wondered if they were going to have to pay for this.

By the time Xephos returned the jet was already taking off.

 ***

If Honeydew thought the ride to Mittret was long, it was nothing compared to the journey to Becropolis. Rather than cutting over Tekktopia, the jet followed the wide path of the ocean channel. Even at the incredible speed at which the plane travelled it still took all day for them to reach even the border of Electria.

Honeydew noticed something wrong almost immediately after crossing onto land. With his face pressed against the window he watched, bug-eyed, as the terrain below rapidly morphed into a sickly purple wasteland. Even from so high up it looked alive with movement, like the very ground itself was writhing. As they flew, he counted the patches of green he saw - it didn’t even make it off one hand. No wonder the people of Electria were crying out for help.

It was a relief to finally see the great sphere of Becropolis rising up on the horizon, for with it came great swatches of pure land and a rich, orange sky free of the violet cloud cover. Sun glinted off of the immaculate skyscrapers and huge floating spaceships of the Sphere, and illuminated the high towers of the city that sprawled beneath it.

The jet slowed, soaring in through a hole in the glass and coming to a shuddering rest on a landing strip high above the buildings below. Quickly, the jet’s passengers dismounted and clustered into two distinct groups. Honeydew wondered who would be leading the Mittret forces, as Emery had not joined them on their journey. He reasoned that she must have assigned them a leader beforehand.

“Hello hello hello!” A voice called cheerily from across the runway. Honeydew jumped and whirled around, and he had a feeling he was not the only one to do so. A short man in a black suit and obnoxious orange tie was running towards them. He reached them quickly and skidded to a halt, puffing.

“Dear Emery told us you would be coming, but I did not expect you to arrive so soon. Uuuh…” The man looked between the two groups. “May I ask who’s in charge?”

The entire Yoglabs side, including Honeydew, pointed at Xephos, while the Mittretians stayed motionless. The man stepped forward and gave Xephos the most animated handshake Honeydew had ever seen, unperturbed by the spaceman’s annoyed glare as he continued on to explain why exactly they had been called there.

Apparently, the spreading purple wasteland, or ‘Flux’, was talking over Electria at an alarming pace, and the local population could not fight it fast enough. They had sent SOS calls to Tekktopia and Agraria as well, but Voltzan had replied the fastest. What they were supposed to do was apparently pretty loose. As long as they were fighting the infection they had free reign and the support of the Becropolis government and its subsidiaries.

The first thing Xephos did when they were released was to move his troops as far away from the Mittretians as possible. Honeydew listened as he explained his plan of attack, miffed that Xephos had not breathed so much as a word of this this to him.

They were to set out in the morning to the edge of the Flux and gather as many forces as they could with the aim to seek out and destroy whatever was causing the infection to spread. By the sounds of things, Xephos was planning on enlisting the help of the local populace, both inside of Becropolis and out.

Honeydew felt oddly detached from the rest as he watched everyone prepare for bed in the warehouse they were provided. He sighed and settled down himself. It took a long time before he managed to drift off.

 ***

They awoke bright and early the next morning in a messy bustle - So messy, in fact, that it was midday by the time Xephos got everyone oriented.

Somehow they managed to procure enough vehicles for all 40 or so members of Yoglabs staff that had accompanied them, and were soon enough heading out over the windblown countryside. They followed the edge of the forest along for a good while before they were forced to stop by a wide river impeding their progress. Xephos preformed something akin to the beginnings of a U-turn and skidded to a halt, the rest of the squadron following his lead.

“Well, now what?” Honeydew asked, shielding his eyes from the sun as he surveyed the rushing rapids before them.

“Hmm, well if we’re not far from the edge of the Flux this might be a good spot to set up a base camp. If we’re not…” Xephos trailed off.

“Then we better get buildin’ a bridge, huh?” Honeydew finished for him. Xephos gave him no more than a grunt before he hopped out of their jeep and jogged over to where the rest of the vehicles had parked. Honeydew could see him conversing with a group of guards before the group ran off into the woods, and Xephos returned.

“Just sent those four off to scout.” He explained. “There’s not much we can do until they return.”

“Right…”

A few seconds of awkward silence passed.

“So Xeph… Anything on your mind?” Honeydew tried.

“No.” Xephos’ reply felt slightly clipped.

“Uuuh, ok.” Honeydew frowned - not that Xephos could see. The spaceman wasn’t even looking at him. “I was thinkin’ this trip’s like when we used to go adventuring. Remember when we used to do that? Xephos? Xeph- are you even listening to me?”

“Hmm? What was that?”

“… Nothing.” Honeydew sighed, turning away. Ah well, it was a good attempt, but he was foolish for thinking that Xephos would act any differently now that they were away from Yoglabs.

Foolish him for thinking that Xephos would pay any attention.

Honeydew laid down across the back seats of their jeep and stared up at the clouds, or lack thereof. He could feel the jeep shake as Xephos hopped out the open top, and hear his footsteps on the grass as he walked away. Good, Honeydew didn’t want him around anyway…

Minutes turned into hours. Finally, when Honeydew thought he would die of boredom, he heard a commotion outside. He sat up, alarmed, at the sound of shouting. Out the side of the jeep he could see the scouting group Xephos sent out earlier. They had returned, but there was someone else with them. They were limping and looked to be in a bad way, having to be supported by one of the scouts. Honeydew squinted - it couldn’t be…

“ _Lalna?!_ ” He exclaimed to himself. He struggled to remember the last time he had seen the scientist, but couldn’t recall anything past the fall of the Jaffa Factory. Thinking about it, he hadn’t even realised Lalna was missing at all…

Honeydew fumbled to unlock the door and leapt out, running over to where the entire Yoglabs platoon had clustered. He pushed through the crowd of legs and emerged into a small clearing around where Lalna and the scouts were standing, along with Xephos to whom Lalna seemed to be explaining something.

“-Alive! It attacked me! It’s horrible, I’ve never seen it so aggressive before…”

Up close, Honeydew could really see the extent of Lalna’s injuries. He was scuffed and cut all over, with bleeding arms and a black eye. His lab coat and shirt were torn and covered with mud and purple goo, his pants were barely blue anymore and he was missing both gloves and a shoe.

“But anyway, what are you doing here? I mean, thank god you arrived or I’d’ve been toast, but weren’t you... Uuuh, weren’t you…?” Lalna adopted a pained expression. “Didn’t you have some kind of lab to run?”

“Ah, yes, yes… Yes. I- _we_ got a called to Becropolis to flight this ‘Flux infection’.” Xephos explained, rather quickly.

“Becropolis? Are we near it? And what’s going on with the Flux?” Lalna asked. Xephos shuffled uncomfortably.

“I’ll explain later. For now we’ve got to get this camp set up.”

The circle of Yoglabs employees took this as a cue to break up. Honeydew watched as they started pulling assorted supplies from the vehicles and setting up tents and walls.

“Hey! Hey Honeydew!” Lalna called. Honeydew started abruptly and turned around. Lalna gave him a wave and a pained smile.

“Hey Lal, long time no see.” Honeydew said awkwardly. “Better get you all fixed up huh?”

“That’d be nice.”

 ***

Half an hour later, a sizable camp was beginning to take shape. Honeydew assumed that the scouts had found the edge of the flux to be within a suitable distance. Of course, he could only do that, assume, as nobody bothered to actually tell him. Again.

Honeydew, Xephos and Lalna were sitting in the makeshift medical bay, which consisted of a large, open-sided tent over a cluster of beds. The rest of the platoon were still busy setting up outside, and there was plenty of work to go around, but Honeydew was too focused on watching Lalna’s brow furrow further and further as Xephos explained why they had been called to Electria, and what they were doing there.

“Oh gods…” Lalna breathed. “Is it really that bad?”

“Seems so. Are you going to stay with us or do you have other plans?” Xephos asked.

Lalna shrugged. “I can’t go home so I might was well stay. Besides, I came out here looking for help anyway…”

“Help?” Honeydew said, raising a bushy eyebrow.

“Uuuh, yeah. My friend- well she kinda… well-” Lalna’s lip quivered. “I-I _think_ she’s still alive but she’s been taken by the Flux and I can’t get her back by myself…”

“Has she? And speaking of Flux, you seem to be covered in it.” Xephos pointed out warily. Lalna poked at the lumpy purple stains on his arm.

“I’ve been like this for a while. If I don’t think about it I can almost forget it… Not like Nano, she’s worse.”

“Nano’s your lost friend, I assume?” Honeydew asked. Lalna nodded.

“Have you ever thought to cure yourself?” Xephos asked, apparently still stuck on the fact that Lalna was infected.

“Oh, many times!” Lalna nodded. Then he sagged. “But I’ve not gotten very far…”

“Anything you know would be crucial to our mission.” Xephos pushed.

“Uuuh, let’s see.” Lalna stroked the fuzz on his chin. “I’ve discovered that Flux taint in animals and people is different than in plants and rocks and stuff. The infection I’ve got can’t be cured by ethereal blooms that’s for sure or I’d’ve rolled in some by now and been done with it…”

“Do you know what gives these ‘ethereal blooms’ their power?”

“Not for sure. I have a theory it might have something to do with Aether magic.”

“Ah… Well shit.”

Honeydew remembered hearing stories about the Aether as a child, and he understood Xephos’ distress. The Aether was an incredibly hard to reach place. In fact, it was entirely possible that it could not be reached at all as any attempts, no matter how advanced, have only ever ended in misery. Aetheric energy was considered to be the exact opposite to Void energy. It existed in the Overworld, but in such small quantities that it would be pointless to search for any.

“So Xephos, Honeydew - you two and your, umm, ‘gang’ really _are_ gonna be fighting the Flux?” Lalna asked.

Xephos gave a nod. “That’s the plan.”

“Mmm… I have an idea then…” Lalna said slowly. “I was thinking on what you said about Becropolis trying to get Tekktopia and Agraria on-board, and I was wondering if we could try to get even more help…”

“What do you mean by that?” Xephos asked, narrowing his eyes.

“I mean like the Nether, the End. Heck I’d even settle for the Twilight Forest.”

“Uuuh, do you happen to know _anyone_ from those dimensions?”

“Well… Xeph, we do, don’t we?” Honeydew said gently. Xephos visibly froze.

“No! Out of the question! We’re fine without help from those dimensions!” With that, Xephos stood up and stalked off, disappearing into the crowd of workers. Honeydew and Lalna exchanged glances.

“What did you mean, when you said you knew someone?” Lalna asked.

“That’s a very long story, and not one I want to tell right now.”

“Ok, fair enough.”

 ***

Within the next few days the camp grew exponentially in size. Xephos had sent for reinforcements from Becropolis, and by the looks of things he got his wish. Several scouting parties had been sent to monitor the advance of the Flux, and laser cannons were already being built in case that the infection spread too close for comfort. All in all, Xephos was keeping himself very busy. Almost too much, Honeydew thought, and he had a feeling like the spaceman was making a point to avoid him.

Honeydew unzipped the front of Lalna’s tent and slipped inside. The air was stifling, and the flimsy wooden floor covered in paper and garbage. Lalna looked up from his microscope and smiled.

“Whatcha got there Lal?” Honeydew asked.

“Modified microscope. I thought I might as well make myself useful. Y’know, continue my research and all that.” Lalna said, adjusting his goggles and wiping his brow.

“Mmm, what’ve you got so far then?”

Lalna adopted a bemused expression. “You? Wanting to know what _I’m_ doing? Are you feeling OK?”

“I got nothin’ else to do.” Honeydew said, shrugging.

“Well, OK then.” Lalna slid the tray out from under the lens of his microscope and held it up. “I’ve discovered that the molecular structure of ethereal blooms can withstand a surprising amount of pressure, presumably a by-product of the process used to create them.” He made a vague gesture toward a cauldron in the far corner of his tent. “Now, it’s been mentioned that Aether energy is very dense and therefor any item containing it would have to be very strong to hold it without exploding, so ethereal blooms being as tough as they are really gives my theory some bulk.”

Honeydew nodded numbly.

“Erm, are you sure you want to know all this?” Lalna asked, placing the tray gently on the table. “Shouldn’t I be telling this to Xephos?”

“What? Because I’m too stupid to understand it?” Honeydew demanded.

“No, no that’s not what I meant at all!” Lalna held his hands up. “I’m just surprised you’re interested…”

“Well if you want Xephos to know all this then you’re gonna have to tell ‘im yourself…”

Lalna frowned. “Did something happen?”

“How am I supposed to know? He’s been ignoring me for, I dunno, _months_ now, feels like.”

“Have you talked to him about it?”

“I can’t, he just brushes me off!”

“Well, I don’t want to get involved, I’m sorry. You’re welcome to stay and watch if you want, though it’ll probably be very boring.” Lalna offered. Honeydew shook his head.

“No I think I’ll just go for a walk…” He said.

“Ok. I’ll see you later then.”

Honeydew exited the stifling atmosphere of Lalna’s tent into the crisp outside air. The sky was a cloudy grey overcast, and he could smell rain on its way. Honeydew’s boots crunched on the gravel floor of the camp as he walked, feeling thoroughly invisible and, though he didn’t want to admit it, very lonely.

 ***

With a huff through his nose Lalna shoved his microscope away. So he knew that ethereal blooms could, in theory, contain Aether energy - great, now what? It had been days and he was frustrated with the snail pace at which his research was going. They didn’t have time for this, they needed more help, more knowledge, before the Flux infection became unstoppable.

Lalna couldn’t understand why Xephos was so adamant that they stick to Overworld forces. Help from the other dimensions would be hard to get, yes, but he could just imagine the knowledge their inhabitants might hold. Who knows, both the End and Nether had copious amounts of Void energy, perhaps they knew how to reverse the Flux taint, how to fight it. Or, if all else fails, twist it to their whim.

Lalna pulled his goggles down over his eyes and unfurled the sleeves of his lab coat to hide the fibrous infection on his arms and face. He didn’t like the dirty looks he got and so made sure to cover himself as best he could before venturing outside. He needed to find Xephos and convince him to reconsider.

Lalna walked briskly through the camp, scanning the open tents, vehicles, and even the wall itself. The clouds rolled angrily overhead as he searched, and somewhere in the distance thunder boomed.

It was astounding how large the camp had gotten in such a short time. Eventually, Lalna spotted a tell-tale flutter of red fabric in the distance. He quickened his pace to a jog and approached where Xephos was busy lecturing a group of scouts, who looked relieved when Lalna pulled him away.

“What? What is it, I’m busy!” The spaceman said irritably.

“I wanted to talk to you about what you’re doing here. Don’t you think what I said earlier would be better, to get help from outside the Overworld?” Lalna asked in a sharp whisper.

“I already said it’s out of the question!” Xephos made to turn away, but Lalna grabbed his arm.

“Look, Xeph. I don’t know why you’re being so stubborn. Think about it, they could know so much that we don’t. They could know how to fix this!”

Xephos glowered at him. The wind that had picked up blew his coat to the side and ruffled Lalna’s hair.

“We. Don’t. Need. The help!” Xephos snarled. “Besides, who do you know that could contact their leaders, huh?”

“Rythian! Zoeya! Fuck, how about you ask Honeydew for once? He seems pretty unhappy that you’re ignoring him!”

“I am not ‘ _ignoring_ ’ him! I’ve just been… busy.”

“Too busy for your best friend?”

Xephos’ mouth moved incredulously “I don’t have time for this!”

With that he ripped his arm from Lalna’s grasp and whirled, stalking away.

Lalna gave growl of annoyance. He found a small canopy tent and sat down underneath to rest his still-sore legs. If Xephos wouldn’t agree, damn him, then Lalna would just have to find the help himself!

“See what I mean?”

Lalna started and twisted to see Honeydew resting against the far leg of the tent, arms crossed. Had he been watching the whole time?

“Ah yeah, I do…” Lalna rubbed the back of his neck.

“If it counts for anything, I’m on your side Lal.” Honeydew said.

“I appreciate it.” Lalna stopped, and then looked closer. “Honeydew, have you been… crying?”

“No.” Honeydew said, quickly turning away. He crossed his arms tighter over his chest. Lalna shifted to stand, but Honeydew gave him a warning glare and he reconsidered.

“Alright… I was about to head back to my tent. Care to come along?” Lalna asked. Honeydew glared at the red speck in the distance that was Xephos.

“Yeah, sure.”


	3. Invitations and Assessments

The next morning did not dawn happily.

A heavy overcast shrouded the camp. Thunder cracked deep within the thick grey clouds and the grating of rain against tarp was deafening. It soaked the camp and it inhabitants to the core, forcing everyone to take shelter in their tents for fear of falling ill or injuring themselves on the muddy slurry that the gravel ground had become. Only a few brave souls remained outside, faithfully working away despite the horrific conditions.

Lalna sat alone in his tent. He shivered and pulled his lab coat tighter around himself. The cold was making it hard for him to think. It bit into his thoughts and made his skin crawl with gooseflesh. He stared blankly at the sheets of paper before him and tried very hard to remember what he was doing. His lack of proper sleep probably wasn’t helping the matter.

A scratch at his ‘door’ intruded in on his misery, and Lalna looked up sharply. There was a zipping noise and the last person he neither expected nor wanted to see stumbled, soaking and shivering, into his tent. Xephos quickly regained his footing and re-zipped the door to plug the windblown torrent that was pouring in.

“Oh, hello.” Lalna said coldly.

“Hello. Sorry about the mess.” Xephos gestured to the water puddling at his feet. “I was curious as to your progress. Have you discovered anything further?”

“No, not really. Why?”

“That’s unfortunate. I was in the process of scheduling a tactical strike against the Flux for when the weather clears up, just to assess what we’re dealing with. It would have been nice to have a few extra weapons.”

“Look, I’ve been trying my hardest so don’t you go bursting in demanding more of me.” Lalna looked back down at his work. “Even if I haven’t discovered much…”

“You’re right, that was rather inconsiderate of me.”

“Yeah, it was. So how about you stop bugging me and go talk to someone who actually wants your attention- like Honeydew, perhaps.”

Xephos’ tail twitched, knocking Lalna’s umbrella stand over with a clatter. He hastily picked it up.

“Take one. Go talk to him.” Lalna near ordered. Xephos gave him a single, indecipherable look before he selected a large black umbrella from the stand and, in a flood of water, slipped out into the rain.

Lalna grumbled under his breath as he tossed several towels over the large puddle on his nice wooden floor.

 ***

Xephos’ umbrella was tipped almost ninety degrees as he slogged through the mud toward Honeydew’s tent. He had a million and one other things he could be doing right now, but Lalna’s disappointment in him should he find out that Xephos did not follow his request was not what he wanted to face - especially since it had the potential to lose him a valuable asset.

The umbrella was only doing half of its job, and Xephos’ fingers had gone numb by the time he reached Honeydew’s tent. He ‘knocked’, but received no reply. Perhaps the dwarf was still asleep? After all, it _was_ rather hard to tell that it was morning…

Then he heard a sigh from within.

“Come in.”

Xephos gratefully unzipped the door and ducked inside. Honeydew was sitting cross-legged on his bed. An old oil lamp sat on a rickety table beside him, bathing the tiny area in its deceptively warm orange glow.

“H-hey there, friend.” Xephos said, withering under the glare Honeydew was giving him.

“Oh, you’ve remembered I exist. Come to drag me into something else?”

“No, not at all!” Xephos fiddled with the handle of his umbrella. “I just came to say hi…”

“Have you? Have you _really?_ ‘Cause if you want something from me just spit it out.”

“I didn’t come to get anything from you, I promise. I guess I… just needed a break from- from being busy.”

“Y’see, there’s the problem.” Honeydew swung his legs over the edge of his bed and stood up. “You’re always so busy. That damn lab is sucking your soul out, Xeph, and I’m starting to think that it’s the only thing you care about anymore.” There were tears welling in the corners of his eyes. “An’ I thought when we came out here that it’d be like how everything was before, but Yoglabs just came with us…”

Xephos could feel guilt squirming in the pit of his stomach. “I- I didn’t-”

“Yeah, yeah, you didn’t mean to or you didn’t know blah blah blah…”

The asperity in Honeydew’s tone hit Xephos like a punch to the gut. This wasn’t what he wanted. Maybe Honeydew was right, maybe he _was_ losing his mind. He had been so caught up with his work, with his plans and battles and experiments, that he didn’t realise just how far he’d fallen; far enough, apparently, to hurt his only friend. Xephos dropped his umbrella with a clatter.

“I’m sorry…”

“Yeah, sure you are.”

“No, no I’m so sorry, Dew. I really, _really_ am sorry.” Xephos’ voice cracked. Honeydew stared at him for what felt like years before stepping forward and pulling him into a hug.

“Promise me you’ll stop?” He said into Xephos’ sodden shirt.

“I- I can’t just drop everything.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“What?”

“I don’t want you going mad, Xeph. Just… try to care less.”

“…Okay, I’ll try.”

Honeydew loosened his grip and took a step back. His hands lingered on Xephos’ hips as he examined the spaceman’s attire.

“You’re sopping wet.” Honeydew observed. “Must be really pissing it down out there.”

Xephos managed a weak smile. “It is.”

“You’re welcome to stay and dry off in here…”

All the things Xephos had to do leapt out at him but he pushed them to the back of his mind. He shrugged off his coat and piled it beside his umbrella as neatly as he could. Both his shirt and trousers were very wet as well, but he didn’t feel comfortable taking them off.

“Ah, I should tell you…” Xephos began, making himself comfortable on the edge of Honeydew’s bed. “I’ve scheduled a small strike against the Flux for when the weather clears up. Are you going to be coming along?”

Honeydew shook his head. “No, I don’t think I will. I told Lalna I’d help him collect more shimmerleaf for his crazy experiments.” He poked Xephos in the arm. “But you be careful, since I’m not there to protect you.”

“Are you saying I can’t defend myself?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying, you twig!”

“Hey-!”

Honeydew grabbed Xephos and pulled him over, ruffling his hair. Xephos laughed and half-heartedly attempted to shove him away.

“Seriously though, please be careful. We don’t know what that Flux shit’s capable of. With the way Lalna talks about it…” Honeydew said, trailing off. His eyes darted and he held both of Xephos’ arms tightly.

“It won’t be a large assault. It’s just an assessment is all. It’ll be fine, Dew.”

“Better be, or I’ll deck you.”

 ***

By midday the next morning the rain had worn itself into a light drizzle. The entire camp was soaked through, the storm having left deep puddles and waterlogged supplies in its wake. The muddy slush of the countryside had claimed every vehicle sent out so far and it was clear that they weren’t going to be able to contact Becropolis any time soon.

Honeydew stalked back and forth outside his tent, casting furtive glances at the opening in the treeline through which Xephos’ strike force had left only moments ago. The spaceman had insisted on leaving immediately even though there was a good chance that the forest was even muddier than the field.

Honeydew sighed. Trying his best to quell his nerves, he left the treeline behind set off for Lalna’s tent. He scratched at the fabric of the door and waited. There was a commotion inside and a minute later the door unzipped and out stuck what, at first glance, looked like the ruffled head of a mop.

“Wha? What time’sit?” Lalna slurred. He brushed the hair out from in front of his eyes and blinked stupidly.

“Uuuh, not sure really.” Honeydew admitted.

“Oh. And why’re you ‘eer?” Lalna asked. Honeydew stared at him pointedly until a look of realisation dawned across the scientist’s face. “Oh, oh yeah, shimmerleaf! I’ll just be a moment. I’ve got something you’ll need.”

With that, Lalna disappeared into his tent. Honeydew heard a crash and a few muffled curses before he reappeared with a pair of sharp purple shears. He handed them over.

“Snip the stems with those, and bring me the bulbs.” Lalna wagged a finger. “And make sure not to damage them, they’re very delicate.”

“Will do… Uuuh, where do you suggest I look?” Honeydew asked, flipping the shears over in his hands as he examined them. Lalna reached an arm out and pointed east towards the treeline.

“There’s a whole grove of ‘em over there. That’s where I’ve been getting them.”

“Thanks! I’ll be back before you know it!”

Lalna gave a nod and a wave as Honeydew rushed off, shears in hand.

 ***

He was close, he could feel it. Among the messy papers and crumpled petals on his desk lurked the answer he needed, but no matter how hard he tried Lalna couldn’t seem to extract it. Images raced through his head, everything he could invent, all the knowledge he could unlock, if he could just figure out how the flowers contained their power. And, of course, he couldn’t forget about the cure. He had to find the cure, for Nano’s sake.

Lalna rested his head in his hands and groaned. Perhaps he needed some fresh air. Yes, a good walk around the camp would do.

Affixing his goggles onto his eyes and rolling down his sleeves, Lalna stepped outside. The drizzle had stopped, leaving nothing but the scent of wet grass and a thin overcast. He set off in a random direction, for the most part ignoring the general drone of machines and babble of testificates as he slipped deep into his thoughts.

“-I’ll break your bloody kneecaps if you don’t!”

Lalna looked up sharply. That voice was oddly familiar, and it brought back ghostly memories of crashing waves and the soft flutter of wings. He looked around curiously, picking out where the raised voices were coming from. Lalna jumped down from the wall and raced over to where two people and a guard were standing by one of the entrances to the camp. They were arguing and the taller stranger, a blue-clad woman with long blonde hair and impressive brown wings, looked to be attempting to push past the guard, who was just barely holding her back. The other one, a shorter, bespectacled man with fluffy black hair, was sporting a pained smile and attempting to make himself as small as possible.

“Hey, what’s going on here?” Lalna shouted, just barely loud enough to make himself heard.

“Thank the gods, Mr. Lividcoffee, these two were attempting to force their way into the camp.” The guard said, but Lalna had stopped listening to them the moment he got a good look at exactly who the two strangers were. By the looks on their faces, the two seemed to have had the same revelation.

“Oh my goodness hey there! You’re that fella from that castle, aren’t you?” The shorter one asked, bounding up and shaking Lalna’s hand enthusiastically. “Long time no see!”

“You… You two lived on that island didn’t you?” Lalna asked. He was internally kicking himself for forgetting their names.

“Mmm.” The taller one hummed, crossing her arms. “You’re Lalna, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Uuuh…” Lalna adopted an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry I can’t remember your names…”

“Lomadia, and this is Nilesy.”

“That’s me, number one pool-boy in the land!” Nilesy proclaimed unnecessarily, jabbing a thumb into his chest.

“Are you the boss around here?” Lomadia asked. Lalna shook his head.

“No, that’d be Xephos.”

“And who’s that?”

“He’s a friend of mine, from when I used to work at his friend’s factory.”

“Ah, is he around here anywhere? I’d like to have a word about this.” Lomadia made a sweeping gesture toward the entirety of the camp.

“Uuuh, no actually, he just left- and so did his second-in-command.” Lalna then hastened to add. “But I’m pretty high up too, I guess, so if you need anything I can probably provide it.”

“We’d like to offer our help. You seem to be in a good position to be fighting the infection.”

Lalna was caught off-guard by her straightforwardness. “Uuuh, sure. We could always do with more help. Do you want to stay here? I’m sure Xephos has some spare tents somewhere…”

“Perhaps… Nilesy?”

Nilesy twitched when he was addressed. “Huh, uuuh wha’? Oh, oh yeah, tents. Staying. Haha, I’m fine with that.” Then he froze, horror-struck. “Mr. Cat! I’ll need to go get Mr. Cat if we’re gonna stay- be back in a tick!”

Then he bolted off across the field, his bare feet slapping noisily on the muddy ground. Lomadia sighed and shook her head.

“I’ll just… I’ll just show you to your tents then shall I…?” Lalna offered hesitantly.

“Yes please.”

 ***

“Carefully does it… Don’t want you flying off my pretty…”

Honeydew delicately positioned his shears around the stem of his last shimmerleaf and severed it from its base. With one hand he caught the flickering blue bulb and tucked it into his bag with the others. Lalna hadn’t specified exactly how many he was supposed to collect, but he assumed fifteen was enough.

Honeydew got to his feet and spun on his heel. The lush grass beneath his boots was dark green and speckled with tiny blue flowers. Motes of light drifted through the air and provided just enough illumination to see by, for the branches above his head were thick and let no light pass through. Finding the entrance to the grove, Honeydew quickly exited.

He listened to the soft plink-plink of dripping water as he walked through the forest at a leisurely pace.He was almost beginning to feel calm - that was, until he left the confines of the forest and was met with the sight of the base camp. From his vantage point on the hill he could see each and every part of it; from the turrets stationed along the wall to the massive parking lot of vehicles at the far end. Beyond it, just barely visible on the edge of the horizon, was the great glass sphere of Becropolis.

Honeydew started down the hill, slipping and sliding on grass still wet from yesterday’s rainfall. He trudged into the camp on tired legs, and had made it halfway to Lalna’s tent before the screech of tires and a deafening crash exploded out from very close by. Honeydew dropped everything he was doing and rushed around the nearest tent - his heart nearly stopped at the sight that awaited him.

There, partially imbedded into the thick stone wall, was one of Xephos’ five armoured trucks. It looked to be in very bad shape, splattered with blood and dirt and dented in places. One of its tires was blown, the entire front grill was collapsed in on itself, and thick blue smoke poured out from under the hood. Three people stumbled, dazed, from inside. Two weapon-less marines, and Xephos. The spaceman barely made it two steps before collapsing to his knees on the soggy gravel ground.

“Xeph!” Honeydew cried, shoving two babbling testificates aside and dropping like a stone in front of Xephos. Gently Honeydew placed both hands on either side of his face. “Xeph are you alright? What happened?”

“It t-tore us apart, W-we didn’t stand-stand a chance.” Xephos muttered feverishly, sounding strangled. His normally keen blue eyes were distant and unfocused. “All of them, they’re all d-dead. Ground ate them alive.”

At that point Xephos seemed to truly notice that Honeydew was there and, grabbing him in a desperate hug, dissolved into sobbing into his shoulder. Honeydew stroked his hair, and drew his hand away dabbed with blue.

“You’ll be OK, it’s OK. Come on, come with me.” Honeydew cooed. He helped Xephos to his feet and supported him all the way to the medical bay. Xephos was stubbornly reluctant to let go, and so Honeydew wound up holding his hand as he recounted exactly what happened in shaky, broken sentences.

From what Honeydew could gather, they arrived at the border of the Flux infection and were immediately set upon by some kind of monster. Xephos didn’t really specify what it was, exactly, and kept rambling on about the ground eating people, but apparently the other four trucks, and their inhabitants, were ripped apart and Xephos only just got away.

The spaceman whimpered and closed his eyes. “Lalna. Where’s Lalna?”

“I’m not sure… I only just got back.” Honeydew fiddled with the strap pf his bag with his free hand. “I could go find him if you want?”

“No, no!” There was real fear in Xephos’ voice. “Please, please stay.”

“That bad huh? Ok, I’ll stay. Though m’ surprised you want me here, seein’ you in your moment of weakness.”

Xephos seemed to relax, and settled down against his pillow. Honeydew heard him mutter quietly “I always want you here”, and tried in vain to quell the flush rising to his cheeks.

And so Honeydew stayed, even after Xephos had fallen into a fitful sleep and the sun began to slip from the sky. He rubbed little patterns onto the spaceman’s slender hand with his thumb and yawned. He was on the verge of falling asleep himself when a call snapped him back awake.

“Honeydew, there you are!”

It was Lalna. He was jogging between the lines of beds and gave Honeydew a small wave when he was sure of the dwarf’s attention. Honeydew glowered at him, as his cry had also awoken Xephos.

“I was looking all over for you. I only just heard what happened!” Lalna said, unfazed by Honeydew’s glare. Xephos extracted his hand and rubbed blearily at his eyes.

“Mmm? Is that Lalna?” He asked, squinting.

“Yeah, s’ me. Are you feeling alright?” Lalna asked, settling himself on the end of Xephos’ bed.

“Peachy. Listen Lalna.” Xephos began, wetting his lips nervously. “I was wrong, I’m sorry. We do need more help. I underestimated our enemy and… I’m just sorry.”

“So you agree that my idea could work?”

“Yes, Lalna, I do.”

Honeydew cleared his throat pointedly. “While you’re here, Lal, d’you want these flowers?”

“Oh, oh yeah, you’ve got the shimmerleaf have you?” Lalna asked.

“Mm-hmm.” Honeydew dug around in his bag and produced a bundle of glowing, sky-blue buds. They swayed in his hand as if trying to squirm from his grasp. Lalna took them gratefully.

“Thanks.” He turned to Xephos. “Meet me in my tent when you’re feeling better, both of you. We can discuss stuff then.”

“’Stuff’? What kind of ‘stuff’?” Honeydew asked.

“I dunno, plans and-” Lalna waved the shimmerleaf bundle “ _Stuff._ ”

“Ok, gotcha. _Stuff._ Seeya Lal.”

“You two take care!”

With a grin and another timid wave, Lalna got up and trotted out of the medical bay, disappearing around a cluster of forest green tents.

Honeydew turned back to Xephos and, reaching a hand out, brushed back his hair.

“I should go back to my tent. I’ll see you in the morning…”

“But I want you to stay.” Xephos said childishly.

“You’ll be fine, Xeph, don’t worry. The turrets keep the monsters out.”

Xephos shivered and peered around. “It’s dark…”

A lightbulb lit up in Honeydew brain and he hefted his bag onto his lap. Gently he scooped a handful of fallen petals from the bottom and offered them to Xephos. They gave off a faint blue glow and the spaceman took them gratefully, holding them tightly against his chest. Honeydew gave him a gap-toothed smile and stood up.

“I’ll see you in the morning, fallen star.”

Xephos’ face went blue and he seemed to have ceased breathing. Grinning secretly to himself, Honeydew trotted away towards his tent.


	4. Research

Sun was the last thing Xephos expected to see when he woke up the next morning. He expected rain, or thunder, lightning, a hurricane or even snow. Something to match the dread he felt steadily building in his chest.

But there it was, shining in through open gaps in the sides of the medical bay and filtering through cracks in the clinical white tarp above. Damn it. Xephos squinted at the mocking rays through bleary eyes. He shoved his blankets off and sat up. Everything ached and it felt like his brain was attempting to break free from his skull, but he had a meeting to attend and who knew how long he had kept them waiting already.

Xephos struggled to stay on his feet as he stood up. Looking down at himself he noticed the large amount of grime coating his once immaculate red coat. Grumbling and picking at the stains, he set off shakily towards Lalna’s tent.

The air was muggy and swelteringly warm in the worst possible way. He was having trouble breathing and after several minutes in the sun Xephos wished he was back under cover. On the verge of fainting, he ‘knocked’ on the ‘door’ to Lalna’s tent, who answered quickly. The scientist’s eyebrows skyrocketed and he pulled Xephos inside. The cool shade of Lalna’s tent came as a sweet relief, possibly because Lalna had set up what looked like a large air conditioner in the middle of his tent, which whirred and clicked with the strain of its job.

“Xephos, I didn’t expect to see you up so soon… Are you sure you’re alright?” Lalna asked.

“Time’s wasting. I’m fine.” Xephos replied, swaying on the spot.

“Well, I don’t really think you are but if you insist I can go get Honeydew so we can talk about this properly-”

“I can go get him.” Oh dear, had he said that too quickly?

“No, you should probably sit down.” Lalna said, motioning towards his desk chair. Was that a smile or was it just Xephos’ imagination? He sat down.

Ten minutes later, Lalna returned with Honeydew in tow.

“Gah, I think I prefer the rain…” the dwarf grumbled, wiping the sweat from his face. Then he noticed Xephos. “Xeph! You’re up. Are you OK?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

Lalna brushed past Honeydew and made to arrange the papers on his desk. “No, he’s not.”

“OK fine I’m not. Whatever, it’s not important.” Honeydew opened his mouth to object, but Xephos cut him off. “Just tell us your plans Lalna.”

“Uuuh, well I don’t really have anything other than ‘get help from other dimensions’.” Lalna admitted sheepishly. “But I assume they must have, like, armies of their own…”

“And you want to ask them to enlist, is what you’re saying?” Honeydew asked.

“Essentially, yeah.”

“And how do plan on doing this?” Xephos said, fearing the answer.

Lalna shrugged “Dunno, ask their leaders I guess? They must have leaders…”

“And don’t you think that might be dangerous? How do you know they won’t just kill us before we get a chance to explain? If you haven’t noticed, none of them seem to like the Overworld much.”

“I… hadn’t thought of that.” Lalna admitted. “Though I think I know someone who might have a chance at convincing the End to help, so hopefully we won’t have to go there ourselves.”

Xephos raised an eyebrow. “Really, who?”

“An old, erm, ‘friend’ of mine. As far as I know he still lives in Tekktopia. I can probably get a ship there from Becropolis.”

“No.”

Lalna adopted a confused look. “Huh, why?”

“I- I’m so sorry for asking this of you but-” Xephos paused. “-But I need you to find Lalnable Hector and bring him here…”

Lalna stared at him incredulously. “No, no way you’re _not_ bringing him here! Anyone but him!”

“I’m sorry Lalna, but you’re the last one to have contact with him, you’re the only one who would even know where to begin looking.”

“But we don’t _need_ him!”

“You said it yourself, we need all the help we can get.”

“But why _him_ though?” Lalna looked like he was about to start crying.

“Because he’s a genius, Lalna, he’s _you._ ”

Lalna’s posture changed in an instant. He advanced towards Xephos with a snarl, the expression on his face nothing short of murderous. “Don’t you ever fucking say that! Don’t you _ever!_ Hector is a monster, are you calling me a monster?! _A murderer?!_ ”

“Calm down there Lal, I don’t think he meant it like that.” Honeydew said, darting forward to block Lalna’s path. He glowered at Xephos over the top of Honeydew’s head. The spaceman had crossed his arms and was giving Lalna an equally hard look.

“You’ll go find him or I’ll send someone else. Either way he’s coming here, Lalna. We can’t pass up the help he could provide.”

Lalna looked desperately between his two guests.

“Fine. OK _fine!_ I’ll do it - but when he kills us all don’t come running to me!” He said, pouting. “And we’ll still need someone to go to Tekktopia…”

“Oh I’m sure there’s someone around the camp who can find your friend.” Honeydew said nonchalantly.

Lalna’s eyes widened. “Oh, actually I think I know who that could be. I’ll ask later.”

“You do? Well that’s a relief. Means we won’t have to go lookin’ for ‘em.”

Lalna nodded and leaned back against his desk. “So that’s the End covered, I guess… What about the Nether and Twilight Forest?”

Xephos was shaking his head even before Honeydew began speaking.

“Well, Xeph an’ I know someone who might be able to help with the Nether…” The dwarf began slowly. “If we can summon him and if he holds off on killin’ us long enough for us to ask.”

Xephos could feel tears welling up in his eyes.

“Wait- you’re not planning on summoning a _demon_ , are you?!” Lalna asked, wide-eyed.

“ **No!** ” Xephos burst out. His hand flew unconsciously to the scar on his throat. “No we can’t Dew, _please!_ ”

“What’re we supposed to do? We don’t know anyone else.” Honeydew said, his tone grave.

“Wait I’m confused, you’re friends with a demon?” Lalna said. Xephos burst into a fit of near maniacal laughter that trailed off into a whimper and left his head spinning. He buried his face in his hands.

“ _Friends_. hahahah, good one Lal.”

“Ok, not friends then… But you think this’ll work?” Lalna asked.

“It’s the best shot we got.” Honeydew said with a shrug.

“I didn’t know you guys were witches... Erm, warlocks rather.” Lalna corrected himself. “Do you know how to summon a demon properly?”

“Well, not exactly. I was just gonna wing it. Besides, I’m sure there’re plenty of books somewhere in Becropolis we can use…”

“Oh I don’t doubt that.”

“What about the Twilight Forest?” Xephos said suddenly, desperate to change the subject. He removed his hands from his face and looked up.

“Ah. Them.” Lalna rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t have high hopes for that, to be honest. The best shot I can think of is my Tekktopian ‘friend’…”

“So is that everything covered then? Can we get to work?” Honeydew asked.

“End? Check. Nether? Check. Twilight Forest? Maybe…?” Lalna recounted. “Can’t get to the Aether. Can’t get to the Erebus. Yeah, I think we’ve got it all covered.”

“Alright then, better hop to it!” Honeydew said just a little too enthusiastically. With slightly exaggerated motions he exited Lalna’s tent and disappeared from view. Xephos smiled tiredly. It was a good attempt, but didn’t distract him from what they were about to do. Lalna started towards the exit as well, but Xephos caught his sleeve.

“Lal, you can come with us to Becropolis. You can probably rent a ship there to begin your search.” The spaceman said, somewhat forcefully. Lalna visibly sagged.

“Alright, fine… But I have to ask those new friends of mine if they’re willing to travel to Tekktopia for us first.”

“Okay, you do that. We’ll find a car and meet you westward?”

Lalna nodded, grumbling something nasty under his breath.

 ***

One hour later they were all clustered in a large jeep, trundling along over the bumpy Electrian countryside.

Xephos had found a change of clothes and had taken a quick dip in the river to rid himself of a layer of grime and was feeling exponentially better. Lalna still wouldn’t let him drive, though, and since the front seat was taken up by Lalna’s tracking equipment he was stuffed into the back with Honeydew and Lalna’s raven-haired friend, Nilesy, whose mysterious winged companion soared somewhere high above them.

Nilesy was babbling animatedly to Honeydew, who was responding in a similar manner. As far as Xephos could tell they were talking about pools, of all things. He didn’t care to listen very closely and was leaning out of the side of the jeep to let the wind catch his hair and stir his thoughts.

They reached the border of Becropolis in no time and entered the city. Xephos and Honeydew parted ways with Lalna and his friends, who, with a quick wave and promise to return with better news, headed upward toward the spaceship docks.

Xephos and Honeydew, with much trial and error, managed to find a local library. The air was dry and smelled strongly of old parchment and rancid ink. Light filtered in through round, bubble-like windows and caught on the motes of dust that permeated the air. A squat little man sat behind a desk near the front entrance. Honeydew asked him about witching books and he, after much scrutiny, pointed the duo in the direction of some shadowed old shelves in the far corner of the room. They thanked him and hurried over-

-Well, Honeydew did. Xephos hovered around him, sulking like a kicked dog, while the dwarf perused the shelves.

“Are you gonna help me or are you just gonna sit there bein’ useless?” Honeydew snapped after a while, yanking out several volumes with more force than was necessary. Xephos couldn’t find a way to wriggle away and so had no choice but to obey, grumbling under his breath as he scanned the shelves Honeydew was too short to reach.

 ***

Ever so slowly, as the sun slipped further across the sky, Xephos and Honeydew amassed a good collection of tomes for research. Honeydew carried them over to the front desk and dropped them with a loud _thunk_ , startling the librarian. He adjusted his glasses gave them a stern look.

“You two don’t look like warlocks to me.” He observed as he verified the books one by one. _That’s because we’re not_ , Xephos thought glumly.

Soon enough they were trotting out into the chilly afternoon air, arms laden down with books. They piled their findings into their jeep and set off once again. Honeydew was too short to drive this particular vehicle, and so Xephos had to take the wheel. The dwarf voiced his distress very loudly, and it was clear that he was not confident that Xephos had fully recovered.

They returned to base camp without a hitch and found it exactly the way they had left it, which Xephos considered to be a miracle in itself. Hopping out, they collected up the books and found a quiet, out-of-the-way spot near the edge of the camp.

“Well, better get to it.” Honeydew declared. He picked up a heavy tome and hit Xephos in the chest with it, leaving him wheezing and clutching at the bindings with both hands. The tome had a deep burgundy cover with no markings and smelled faintly of gunpowder. Xephos sat it in his lap and flipped it open. Out of the corner of is eye he saw Honeydew do the same.

 ***

Xephos must have dozed off as the next thing he knew he was being shaken awake.

“Xeph! Xeph lookit this!” Honeydew hissed excitedly. He shoved an open tome into Xephos’ hands and jabbed a finger at the pages. Xephos squinted at it, but the sun had set too far for him to see the words properly.

“Christ Dew, how have you been reading in this light?!” He exclaimed.

“Huh? It’s not _that_ dark is it?”

“Well I can’t see the pages can I? C’mon, let’s go inside. My tent’s around here somewhere…”

Marking the page Xephos stood up. He cracked his back and waited for Honeydew to gather up the additional volumes before they descended the wall upon which they had been sitting and set off quickly towards a nearby cluster of tents. Xephos picked out a large black one and unzipped the door, ducking inside. Honeydew trotted after him.

The interior of Xephos’ tent was cold, dark and as cluttered as his office, with his desk a mess of papers and his bed lumpy and unmade. The floor was covered in a layering of light grey carpet and scattered with spare clothes and discarded gadgetry.

“And you say I’m messy.” Honeydew said, shaking his head.

“I’ve been… Busy.” Xephos turned away quickly to click on his desk lamp, shielding his eyes from its clinical white glow until they had sufficiently adjusted. Even half-blinded he could see Honeydew’s face fall as he set the stack of books down among the papers of Xephos’ desk.

“Sure are…”

Xephos sat down at his chair and spun it away from his desk. Crossing his legs, he flipped the tome back open to its marked page and began studying the text within. Honeydew craned to look over his arm.

Xephos blew a puff of air out through his lips. “Crikey this looks a bit complicated.”

“Well what’d you expect? we’re gonna be summoning a demon.”

Xephos felt cold fingers closing around his chest. They really were going to be summoning a demon; and not just any demon. A cold, cunning one, one that would take any opportunity he could to break free from the infernal chains with which he had been bound all those years ago.

Xephos felt a hand on his shoulder, and realised how badly he was trembling.

“Xeph, it’s alright.” Honeydew said softly. “We can do this.”

“No, I _can’t_ ” Xephos moaned.

“Yes you can. And besides, even if he does kill us we’ll just come back right?”

“But what if he breaks free? He’ll kill everyone!”  
“He can’t, we banished him remember? That shit’s some strong magic an’ even summoning the bastard wouldn’t break it. He’ll just be bound to us.”

“That’s worse!”

Xephos wrapped his arms around himself and tried to calm his breathing.

“C’mon, c’mere.” Honeydew pried Xephos from his chair and enveloped him in a tight hug. “Calm down. It’ll be fine I promise.”

Xephos could feel warm hands on his back, his neck. A sharp jolt ran thought his stomach as Honeydew pulled him lower and kissed him. Xephos didn’t know how to feel. A guilty part of him admitted that it was an incredibly soft and pleasurable experience, but he just felt like it wasn’t _right_.

Xephos tore himself away and stumbled backwards, almost tripping over his chair in the process. His breath came short and fast and for a moment there was only silence. Honeydew started saying something, but Xephos ignored him and turned back to his chair. Sitting down, he quickly spun around and busied himself with the open tome before him.

“Xephos?”

The words on the page were very hard to read.

“…Xeph?”

He should probably read that over again.

A quiet sigh and the shuffle of fabric behind him signified that Honeydew had taken a seat on the bed.

Xephos tried very, very hard to understand the array of words and symbols on the pages before him, but no matter how many times he read and re-read them they just wouldn’t go in. His head was spinning and the uncomfortable feeling in his stomach that he’d been struggling to avoid had returned full-force. Xephos leant back in his chair and ran his hands down his face.

“I could read that for you if you want…” Honeydew offered from across the room. “I mean, gods know I hate readin’ but you don’t seem to be doing a very good job…”

“Thanks.” Xephos said, halfway between sounding genuine and sarcastic. He picked up the book, careful to mark the page with his thumb, and stood up. Handing it to Honeydew, he sat down on the opposite side of the bed.

There were several minutes of silence in which Xephos only half succeeded in calming himself.

“’Aight, I think I get it…” Honeydew declared, thumping the book shut. Xephos jerked violently at the sudden interruption and twisted to stare at him.

“Really? You do?” He managed.

“Yeah, but we’re gonna need a forest and some magic chalk.”

“Magic chalk?”

Honeydew shrugged. “S’ what it said. ‘Infernal chalk’.”

“Mmm.” Xephos nodded. There was a short, awkward moment before Honeydew sagged and looked away.

“It’s pretty late. I guess I should be going back to my own tent for the night…” He said, setting the book down among the sheets of Xephos’ bed and standing up.

_Stay_ , Xephos tried to say, but his tongue felt tied and a rock had lodged itself in his throat. Honeydew reached the entrance to the tent and looked back.

“I… I’m sorry…”

And then he was gone.

Xephos flopped down onto his side and curled up into a ball, his arms around his legs. He closed his eyes and whimpered. Unwelcome thoughts raced through his mind and after several hours he gave up on trying to stop them.


	5. Cross-Country

The airports of Raht were truly a sight to behold. The city prided itself in its diversity; with sections for spacecraft, airplanes, jets and even a special dock for airships should they visit from Agraria. In all it was, compared to the mess that was the Becropolis spaceport, a refreshingly clean and orderly place.

Nilesy and Lomadia dismounted their flight at the far end of the airport. Through the rush of military traffic to Electria and visitors from other flights it was a wonder they even managed to leave the area in a timely manner, much less flag down a cab into Raht itself.

“So… Any ideas on where we’re going?” Lomadia asked.

“Lalna said Rythian’s castle.” Nilesy said, settling down further into the plush seats of the cab. “It’ll be nice to see ‘im again.”

“Will it? I don’t remember him being particularly friendly.”

“Rythian? Oh he’s fine. Little mysterious, but fine. I built him a pool once.”

“Of course you did.”

Lomadia shifted uncomfortably. Her wings felt cramped, tight against her back in the enclosed space of the cab. She sighed and watched out the window as the bustling city streets and bright storefronts whipped past.

Their cab dropped them off on a quiet apartment block near the edge of the city. Lomadia thanked the driver and dug around in her pockets for the credits to pay them. Then the cab had gone and they were alone on the rapidly darkening street.

“So… I guess we better start hiking…” Nilesy said with a nervous laugh, breaking the industrial silence.

“Are you sure you don’t want to rent a truck or something?” Lomadia suggested.

“That… actually doesn’t sound half bad. In fact, yeah let’s do that.”

 ***

It was well into night by the time Nilesy and Lomadia left the bright streets of Raht. Lomadia had her hands clenched tight on the steering wheel, eyes sweeping the darkness, as she carefully maneuvered their borrowed pickup over the lumpy grasslands outside the city. Nilesy sat cross-legged in the passenger’s seat, looking out the front with an expression that betrayed nothing more than mild concern.

“Anything on your mind?” Lomadia asked.

“Nah…” Nilesy paused. “Actually, I don’t think I left Mr. Cat enough food.” Suddenly he was sitting bolt upright. “Oh no, what if I didn’t? Poor Mr. Cat might go hungry!”

“I’m sure he’ll be fine. It shouldn’t take too long to get to the old Island and find Rythian.” Lomadia reassured him as best she could in her current state, tense as she was.

“I hope so…”

Nilesy slumped back down and resumed his watchful stare. The silence of night blanketed their cosy little vehicle as it trundled its way further and further into the wilds. If they had attracted any attention from nightspawn, the creatures were too slow to show it. The half-moon shone high overhead, and Lomadia was having a hard time keeping herself awake enough to drive straight.

It took a long, long time, but eventually, as the morning sun was beginning to peek over the horizon, the duo and their truck arrived at a desolate shoreline and skidded to a halt. Lomadia cut the engine and sat back, exhausted. Beside her, Nilesy snorted in his sleep, curled up snug in his seat.

Lomadia whacked him gently on the head.

“Morning, sleepyhead.” She said.

“Wha- Aaaagh!” Nilesy hit his head on the dashboard with the force at which he jolted awake. Disgruntled, he adjusted his glasses and peered through squinted eyes at the sun over the water. “Oh… Must have fallen asleep…”

Lomadia rolled her eyes and got out. The sand shifted beneath her boots as she paced back and forth, unfurling her wings, stretching them after their long, painful ride. She cracked her neck and peered off towards the overgrown mass of green that used to be Owl Island, now abandoned and left to nature. All the owls had left long ago, but Lomadia was still filled with a deep yearning to spread her wings and soar though the trees, listening for their hoots, their songs.

“Uuuh, Lom? Weren’t we supposed to be looking for Rythian?”

“Oh yeah, right…”

To be honest, Lomadia had forgotten about that. Her hands had almost seemed to drive on their own, bringing them to this spot; this beach filled with the ghosts of the past.

“So uuh, should we be… going now?” Nilesy suggested slowly. Lomadia let her gaze linger on the distant island before turning away.

“Yeah, probably - but you’re driving. I’m knackered…”

“Fair, that’s fair. But, uuuh, you might want to hang on tight.” Nilesy cracked a sheepish smile. “I’ve not driven anything for years.”

“Oh dear…”

 ***

It was not a pleasant trip, to say the least. Nilesy stuck true to his word and Lomadia clung to the edges of her seat in fright as they went rocketing over the landscape, chassis groaning and engine roaring. She had planned on getting some sleep, but had no longer felt tired enough to do so within five minutes of leaving.

The truck rocketed off the edge of one final hill and found that there was no ground to land on. It was on pure instinct alone that Lomadia vaulted, slow-motion, out of the door and hung suspended by wingbeats, shaking with terror, as the truck landed heavily in a dune of sand below.

“Nilesy?” She called. Far below, the driver’s side door was shoved open and a thumbs-up stuck its way out. Sighing with relief, Lomadia descended. Shakily alighting atop the dune she watched as Nilesy clambered out of the upturned truck and shook his hair. He looked unhurt - which, really, was unsurprising given his track record. He jogged up the slippery slope of the dune to where Lomadia was standing, her arms crossed to hide the fact that she had not fully recovered from her fright.

“Oh! Oh look!” Nilesy exclaimed, pointing an arm towards something in the distance. Hopefully curious, Lomadia followed the path of his arm. There, silhouetted in the distance, was the ragged shape of a castle, surrounded by acres and acres of glowing yellow sand.

“Is that it?” She asked, squinting.

“I hope? I mean, who else has - had - _has_ a castle like that? Come now.”

Lomadia hummed her agreement, sparing a glance to where their truck was sitting, sideways, half-buried in sand. They would need to dig it out to use it and with just the two of them that would be a feat in itself. To be honest, she would rather walk and ask Rythian for help. By the frown on his face, Nilesy seemed to be thinking about the same thing.

And so they walked, trudging through the sand until the silhouette of Blackrock was no longer just a speck in the distance. It loomed up dark and imposing before them, despite the harsh desert sun. The air crackled with energy as the duo approached. Lomadia dared not fly in case she was shot down by some unknown force.

-Or, perhaps, the large, green dinosaur running full-tilt towards them, sharp teeth bared.

Lomadia shielded herself with her wings and squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for what would surely be a most painful demise. Beside her she could hear Nilesy let out a high-pitched yelp.

_Thump thump thump_

It was the sound of something repetitively hitting the sand. Lomadia cracked open one eye and peeked over the top of her wing to find that the dinosaur had stopped several metres in front of them and was hopping up and down, wearing indents in the sand with its large, clawed feet. She quickly realised that what she had mistaken for bare-toothed rage was actually a grin of delight. The dinosaur kept hopping happily.

Lomadia elbowed Nilesy, who was still cowering beside her.

“Hey, I think it’s friendly.” She whispered.

“Huh?”

The dinosaur made motions with its head toward the castle and promptly trotted off. Lomadia and Nilesy followed, somewhat reluctantly, and were led all the way up the soft netherrack steps to the front door. The dinosaur nudged it open and squeezed through. The hallway inside was dim and lit by flickering green torches. The walls, like the outside, were made of tiny, coal-black bricks and the floor of large marble tiles. Each wall had one door each, located very near to the entrance, and the hallway ended in an abrupt turn to the left.

The duo watched curiously as the dinosaur touched its snout to a rune in the wall, which pulsed once in a burst of violet light. The dinosaur sat its considerable rump on the polished marble floor stared at it, and for a few seconds nothing happened.

Suddenly, a bright, enthusiastic voice echoed throughout the hallway.

“ _Zoeya Proasheck calling Blackrock Stronghold. Come in Teep._ ”

The voice giggled.

“ _Rythian’s sorta busy at the moment, but we’ll be right there in a bit~_ ”

The rune emitted a sharp crackle suspiciously like a signal cutting out and dimmed to indigo. The dinosaur, who Lomadia assumed to be Teep, shrugged his tiny arms and trotted away, tail waving. The corridor gave off an eerie chill and Lomadia ruffled her wings nervously. She felt awkward standing there in the corridor, yet didn’t want to go deeper inside and felt like it would be awfully rude to just leave.

“Do you think we-” She started to say, before realising that Nilesy was no longer standing there beside her. Lomadia looked around quickly and noticed that the door to their left was ajar. Faintly, she could hear clanking coming from within.

“Dammit Nilesy!” Lomadia muttered under hear breath, pushing the door open and heading inside.

The room turned out to be a kitchen, with smooth marble counters and ornate oak cupboards. Nilesy was rooting around in the fridge, extracting various fruits and bowls of muddy brown stew. He noticed Lomadia standing by the door and gave her a wave, nearly dropping the bowl he was holding in the process.   
“I’m famished!” Nilesy exclaimed, setting the bowl down among the fruit on the counters. “Do you think they have any milk in here?”

“Should we really be eating all their food?” Lomadia asked.

Nilesy shrugged. “Don’t see why not. They gave me plenty of food last time I was here.”

“If you say so.”

In truth, Lomadia was very hungry herself. In the end she decided to take Nilesy on his word and shuffled over to grab an apple from the pile. It was crunchy and slightly sour, but that didn’t stop her from finishing it in as little bites as possible. Nilesy stood with his hip against the counter, eagerly spooning stew into his mouth.

Within the next ten minutes they had exhausted the food pile and taken to lounging on the floor. During that time, Teep had come by and settled, silently as always, down by the fridge.

“Making yourselves at home I see?”

Lomadia snapped to attention at the sudden intrusion and Nilesy let out another of his yelps, toppling over. A tall man wrapped in dark fabric stood vulture-like by the door. Lomadia had not noticed him appear.

“It wasn’t my idea!” She squeaked, her heart still racing.

“You say that like you’ve done something wrong.” Rythian observed. His mouth was shrouded by a mask, but the crinkle of his eyes told her he was smiling.

“Rythian, ol’ buddy!” Nilesy exclaimed, scrambling to his feet. “Long time no see!”

“It has been a very long time, indeed.” Rythian looked between them through intense violet eyes. “I’m surprised to see you here. I thought you had moved away for good… Is there something you need or are you just dropping by to say hi?”

“I wish we were just dropping by, but we do actually need your help...” Lomadia said.

Rythian raised an eyebrow and motioned for them to follow him as he swept from the kitchen. He led them into a sitting room full of red sofas, books and shrivelled ferns in large wooden boxes. Nilesy and Lomadia made themselves comfortable on one of the sofas.

They took turns explaining what was happening to Rythian, who was leaning against a nearby bookcase, arms crossed. Halfway through Zoeya came trotting in, with a cheery “hello!” and spotlight-bright smile, and they had to start over from the beginning. By the end Rythian’s expression had darkened until it felt like Lomadia was looking into the void itself.

“You want me to go to the _End?_ ” He said dangerously. Lomadia squirmed in her seat.

“That was the hope, yes.” She faltered under his glare. “Or, maybe you could just… Ask them… without going there?”

“I cannot speak with _neeuq Etherthartalei_ without entering her dimension.” Rythian paused, sighing. “But I _have_ felt a shift, and if what you say is true I might have no choice.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine, Ryth.” Zoeya said confidently. “And besides, they prob’ly have _loads_ of cool gadgets and stuff we can use! It’ll be fun!”

“I-I don’t think going to the End would ever be _fun…_ ” Rythian ran a hand through his hair. “But we can talk more when we get to Electria.”

“Wait, you’re coming just like that?” Nilesy said in disbelief. “We don’t have to convince you?”

“I have felt something terrible stirring for a while now. I you don’t need you to convince me any more than you already have.”  
“That’s a compliment.” Zoeya added helpfully.

“Feel free to get some rest while I prepare. I have some things I need to take with me…” Rythian said. Unfurling himself, he set off quickly and disappeared into the adjacent room in a swirl of black fabric. Thankful that the conversation was over, Lomadia gave in to her fatigue. Curling up on the sofa, she was sleep almost instantly.

 ***

They set out at dusk. The five of them together made quick work of flipping the truck and they all piled in, thankful that the sand had not damaged it too badly. Since she was deemed most competent when it came to driving, Lomadia had taken the wheel. Nilesy, as before, sat in the passenger’s seat beside her and Rythian and Zoeya occupied the back seat. Since he didn’t fit inside, Teep was riding in the very back basin of the pickup, his snout pressed against the tiny window as he listened to Zoeya nag Rythian about his seatbelt, which he had refused to wear on the argument that, with it off, it would be easier to defend himself should he be attacked.

It took all night and well into morning for them to reach the border of Raht, and many more hours to navigate the distracting streets and return their borrowed vehicle. Once, they had to stop when Zoeya insisted they explore a trinket shop, which they left a few credits lighter. Appeased, Zoeya focused on sticking several colourful stickers to her mechanical arm.

Lomadia observed, over the course of their journey through Raht, that Rythian had been winding himself tighter and tighter until he resembled a stained steel cable. She found herself walking as far away from him as she could without making her avoidance obvious. There was something about him that unnerved her, but for the life of her she couldn’t figure out what.

Eventually they made it to the airport on the outskirts of the city. Picking the earliest flight to Becropolis, they settled down for a long, long journey back.

 ***

Lalna considered himself a bit of an expert when it came to the inner mechanics of spaceships, having built one from scratch himself, but for the life of him he could not work out how to fly this particular one. It was not like anything he had ever seen and, thinking about it, the dealer he had rented it from seemed rather keen for him to have it.

He fiddled with the controls angrily and sat back in his seat. The tiny ship hovered about a mile away from Becropolis, having mysteriously stalled. With it running, Lalna dared not fiddle with the engine itself.

Getting up, he walked over to the far side of the ship and looked out. Very close, on the horizon, he could see the writhing purple masses and sickly storm-filled sky of the Flux infection. Could it be possible that Lalnable had perished in the violent advances over the past few weeks? Lalna hoped he had; it would be a weight off his mind.

In the case that Lalnable was not dead, Lalna had prepared a tracking device that he had thrown together. There was no guarantee it would work, as he hadn’t had the time to test it yet. Digging it out of his bag, he held it in his hand. It was about ten inches long, with a handle and screen at the bottom and two prongs at the top, much like a divining rod. Lalna opened a panel at the bottom and winced as he pressed it against the remaining untainted skin on his arm and allowed it to take a DNA sample. As much as he hated to admit it, he couldn’t deny that Lalnable was, in fact, him - and Lalna intended to use that to his advantage.

Figuring out how to run the faulty spaceship was grating on Lalna’s nerves, but eventually he managed to get it at least moving again, though it was slow and he hadn’t figured out how to turn it yet. He was sure he’d figure out the rest before he reached the border of the Infection.

Taking his tracker in one hand, he tapped on the keypad with his thumb. The tip lit up with cherry-red light and Lalna swung it around in a slow circle. If by some miracle it worked correctly, it should grow blue the closer it got to its target.

“Work, damn you!” Lalna hissed, shaking the tracker. He swung it around again. It could have just been his imagination, but he could swear it went a little purpler when he pointed it north-west. Deciding it was better than nothing, Lalna trotted back to the controls and sat down.

Now to figure out how to turn this thing.

 ***

Only after several hours of searching did Lalna realise his mistake. He had forgotten to account for the fact that the tracker would also track him, and that the shift he saw earlier was just him tilting it towards himself. Angry at his own stupidity, Lalna spent the rest of the day hovering above the forest, tweaking his invention to include a blacklist.

It was dusk by the time he finally finished. Tired and frustrated, Lalna considered returning to base camp for the night. It would be far more comfortable than sleeping on the cold metal floor of his spaceship, what with the roar of the engines and clicking of the consoles. He was about to sit down when the tracker started beeping frantically from its perch on the table. It rattled the table with its vibrations, its tip glowing bright blue. However, it was not facing him and, last he checked, was turned off.

Lalna had no time to react as a split second later the floor shuddered beneath his feet as something heavy and, from the sound of it, explosive impacted the side of the ship. It was followed by another and another. One of them must have hit one of the engines as there was an ear shattering explosion and Lalna was thrown from his feet. He flew through the air, hit his head hard on one of the consoles, and blacked out.

 ***

When Lalna awoke it was to the smell of smoke and blood. Fire crackled, but it sounded distant and muffled as if he was underwater. His head throbbed and there was a metallic taste in his mouth. Painfully, he cracked open his eyes and was met with the sight of the night sky, twinkling silently through a sheet of cracked glass. Sitting up made Lalna feel like he was going to vomit and he tried his best to hold it in as he surveyed the wreckage numbly.

There was fire, so much fire, and someone in a dirty white lab coat was stalking towards him. Lalna didn’t have the strength to fight back as they kicked him over and planted a boot on his neck.

“And so he awakens. Have a nice nap fluxy?”

Lalna made a choking noise and pawed weakly at the foot of his aggressor.

“Lal-nable-” He gasped. The edges of his vision were going black. Lalnable seemed to notice this, and loosened his hold ever so lightly.

“Funny, I was just going to go looking for you. But here you are, having come so willingly into my domain.”

“Lalnable, wait- we need- your help-!” Lalna said. Through the fog, he had the distinct feeling like he should be bargaining for his life.

“Yeah? Let me guess, you’ve come for my help to fix this mess you and your fuck buddy created?” Lalnable leaned in closer and leered.

“Nano didn’t- we didn’t do this!” Lalna could feel a little of his strength returning, and he gave the boot on his neck a determined shove - it didn’t move. “She’s been taken- by M-Mother!”

Lalnable’s entire posture changed, and his expression morphed from smug satisfaction to something blank and unreadable.

“So they both have…” He said quietly, staring off toward where the firelight illuminated a rough hole in the side of the ship. Lalnable looked back down at Lalna and stated, “I am not going to help you, but _you_ are going to help _me._ ”

Lalna gasped in grateful gulps of air as Lalnable removed his boot and stepped back, one hand resting atop the long-barrelled gun at his waist. It was dripping a glowing red substance and Lalna was not about to risk anything - especially not his life, which is what he was most likely to lose should he attempt to flee.

“Those terrible monstrosities have taken my dear Echo, and you are going to help me get her back.” Lalnable said.

Seizing his chance, Lalna fumbled to blurt out. “My friends and I have a camp nearby! We can go- go there!”

Lalnable gave him a pitiful look. “Do you think I am an idiot? I do not trust you. We will work from here.”

“B-but you can’t fight it alone. At the camp - Xephos has- I mean, he wants your help!”

“Ah, Xephos. I must decline what I’m sure is your generous offer. I don’t feel like being imprisoned again.”

“But- but-!”

Lalnable unhooked his rifle and tossed it in his hands a few times. “Now come, we have much work to do.”


	6. Summoning Circles

As it turns out, copying runes from a book with chalk in blinding sunlight is not as easy as it sounds.

Xephos let out a growl of frustration and sat back. Mopping his brow with the hem of his shirt, he took a moment to survey their progress. Stretching out before him sat their day’s work; three concentric, mostly-completed circles of burning red runes. It was rather a lot considering the circles spanned around 25 metres squared and it was only around mid-afternoon, and less than half that time had been spent drawing the actual runes themselves.

Propping the book he was using for reference up on his knee, Xephos triple-checked the rune he had just created. A small part of him admitted that perhaps he was being too cautious, but the book _did_ very clearly state that summoning rituals like the one they were preforming were very volatile and he didn’t fancy being blown up, incinerated or otherwise brutally killed.

“How’s it goin’ over here?”

Xephos jerked so violently that the book he was holding flew a metre away and landed with a soft _thump_ onto the grass. Honeydew raised his eyebrows and took a step back.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s fine, friend.” Xephos got to his feet and took a moment to stretch his back. “I was just taking a break.”

“Understandable. Hey, d’ya need some help over here? I’ve finished the big fancy glyph, I think. Well, to be honest I’m not a very good artist and there were a lot of squiggles.” Honeydew cracked a bashful smile that made Xephos’ heart skip a beat.

“I could look it over if you want…?” He offered, shuffling over to where his book was lying in the grass. He picked it up and brushed the dirt from its cover. Honeydew shrugged, which he took as a ‘yes’. Swapping his book and chalk, Xephos jogged away towards the centre of the circle.

 ***

The sun was low in the sky by the time they finished the circles. The two of them stood by their ‘altar’- a flat stone slab covered with red cloth and cluttered with crystals and other magical paraphernalia leant to them by the witches near their base camp. A small oil lamp burnt in the grass by their feet, providing only meagre illumination. The forest behind them chirped and groaned in the darkness, and Xephos was proud that he had not broken and ran for safety yet.

“I’m having second thoughts…” Honeydew said, swallowing nervously as he stared at the smouldering red circles in the clearing before them.

“Too late now.” Xephos managed, feverishly flipping through one of their many tomes. He laid it down open on the altar and began mixing together various powders as directed, his nose wrinkled at the various disgusting odours they gave off.

“What’s that stuff called?” Honeydew asked, having to stand on his tip-toes to see what Xephos was doing.

“’Refined evil’ I think…?”

“Excuse me?”

Xephos tilted his head and squinted at the pages. “It’s made of blaze powder and ender dust, mostly. There’s also this stuff that witch gave us as well, and I think it’s made of ghast tears and some other herbs…”

Honeydew made a face and shuffled a few steps away, watching warily.

When he was done, Xephos gathered the fine black powder into a small glass phial. Carefully holding it in both hands, he joined Honeydew at the edge of the circle.

The dwarf eyed the phial and said: “Okay, really having second thoughts.”

“You’re the one who insisted we do this.” Xephos reminded him. When Honeydew didn’t reply, he continued on with: “Anyway, we’ve got to get this somewhere in the very middle circle. As soon as the dust touches the ground, it’ll activate.”

“And we’ll both die…?”

“Erk- hopefully not.” Xephos shifted uncomfortably. “I-I’ll throw it shall I?”

“Yeah, but what happens if you miss?”

“Well the dust is very reactive with the chalk, so we both die, I guess.”

“Right. That’s reassuring.”

Xephos forced himself to breathe evenly. Muttering the spell described as quickly and clearly as he could, he tossed the phial with all his might toward the centre glyph. Shockingly, it hit almost dead-on and shattered on the arranged stones beneath.

For a few seconds nothing happened. Then, ever so slowly, one of the runes on the outer circle caught fire. The flames crept higher until they formed a pillar and set the next rune ablaze, then the next, and the next. Soon the flames were shooting around the circle, licking hungrily at the chilly night air and dancing through and around each other. The light, in contrast to the darkness before, was painfully bright.

Xephos and Honeydew were forced to take cover behind the altar when a scalding wind blew from the centre of the circle, fanning the flames in their direction and shrivelling the grass beneath their feet. Sounds akin to what one would usually hear from a Nether portal drifted sharp and ghastly through the air.

Then, all at once, it ended, leaving nothing but the muted crackle of fire and heavy silence of night.

“Did it work?” Honeydew asked in a low whisper.

“I-I dunno. I can ch- ack!”

Xephos, who had gingerly poked his head from cover, was forced to duck back again to avoid an arrow that whizzed past, through where his head had been mere seconds ago. It _thunked_ into a nearby tree with alarming force.

“It worked.” Xephos mouthed.

“Now what?” Honeydew mouthed back.

“ _Cowardssss! You dare ssssummon me?!_ ”

It felt like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water down Xephos’ back and he scratched at his crawling skin.

“Yeah.” He managed to call, though his mouth felt like it hadn’t known water for years. This time when he peeked from cover, Honeydew joined him.

It had worked, it had most definitely worked, which could be considered both a miracle and terribly unfortunate.

Red eyes glared at them from beyond the light of their lantern, glinting with rage from the faint, hellfire-orange glow of the dying runes. They could only see him when he moved to block the light from the centre glyph, which he scuffed out with one boot. Faintly, they could see the ghostly outline of chains and manacles around his wrists.

“ ** _You!_** ”

Xephos and Honeydew dived in opposite directions as a volley of fireballs rammed into their altar, cracking stone and sending trinkets flying in all directions. Xephos felt exposed out in the open, laying belly-down on the shrivelled grass - and rightly so. He scrambled to his feet and had barely time to recover before another volley sent him running for cover among the trees. He nearly tripped over Honeydew among the underbrush and together they were forced into a mad dash around the edge of the clearing.

Wood splintered and bushes burst into flame behind them as they ran, far too close for comfort. The underbrush in front of them caught fire and they were forced to take cover behind the trunk of a particularly thick oak, which groaned under the pressure of the beating it was taking.

“Wait! Please, stop! We need to talk to you!” Xephos called, deciding that if he was going to die he might as well at least try. The fireballs stopped, and a hiss drifted towards them across the clearing.

“ _Ripping your throatssss out will be a pleassssure._ ”

“Hey! I don’t appreciate bein’ threatened!” Honeydew called. Xephos slapped a hand over his mouth.

“We have to be _diplomatic._ ” He whispered. Honeydew shoved his hand away and grumbled under his breath, clutching his axe tighter against his chest.

The fire around them was growing uncomfortably hot, and the only way to escape the hungry flames was straight into the clearing ahead.

“We need to come out there… Please don’t kill us?” Xephos called. He grabbed Honeydew’s arm, or perhaps Honeydew grabbed his, and they darted away from the flames, hovering as close to the treeline as they dared.

Israphel had an arrow drawn and levelled at them, accompanied by a glare so intense that Xephos had to resist the urge to back away. He cleared his throat quietly and scrambled to find something to say.

“Sorry for- for summoning you, but we really need your help.” He managed.

“ _How unfortunate._ ”

“Look mate.” Honeydew interjected, much to Xephos’ relief. “We didn’t want to have to do this. Heck, I’d be glad never to see you again, so it really says somethin’ about our situation here.”

Israphel tilted his head and lowered his bow a fraction of an inch, but said nothing.

“Y’see there’s this stuff called, what, Flux was it?” Honeydew said, looking to Xephos for confirmation, who nodded. “Flux. And apparently it’s gonna eat the entire Overworld or something if we don’t get help.”

“ _Then you will die sssslowly._ ” Israphel affixed them with a cruel smile. “ _How about you build a wall to sssslow it down? Wouldn’t that be fun._ ”

“That’s- that’s not helping.”

“ _It wasss never my intent to help-_ ” Israphel cut himself off and twisted to stare at the treeline, then intently at Xephos. “ _You sssshould ansssswer that._ ”

“Huh?” Xephos twitched violently and looked down at himself. Indeed, his communicator was buzzing. He fished it out of his pocket and flipped it open, pressing it to his ear hesitantly. “H-hello?”

The communicator emitted a painfully loud burst of static followed by a cacophony of fuzzy voices. He could make out screaming and someone crying out for help in the far distance. Before Xephos could respond, there was an explosion and the signal cut out. A few seconds later, the ground beneath the clearing rumbled.

“Was that the camp?” Honeydew asked fearfully.

“I- I think so. I mean, it couldn’t be anyone else, this communicator can only be used contact them.” Xephos said. His mouth felt dry as he tucked the little yellow device back into his trouser pocket. Honeydew grabbed hold of his coat sleeve.

“We have to help them.” He said in a small voice.

“I- uuuh-” Xephos cast a glace it where Israphel was lingering near the centre glyph. He had sheathed his bow and was pacing back and forth irritably. He noticed them watching, and made a sharp “ _go on_ ” motion with one hand.

Xephos nearly tripped over his feet four times as he skirted around the edge of the circle and located where his lantern had been blasted into the bushes. Thankfully, it was still mostly intact and, now with a source of light, the duo ventured off quickly into the trees.

The darkness around them seemed to close in at once. Xephos felt like he couldn’t breathe; surely it was going to eat them up at any second. His mind raced forward, imagining all the horrible things out there, waiting to descend upon them should they trip on the gnarled roots and exposed rocks that littered the forest floor. Vaguely, he wondered how long they would keep him alive, how long it would take them to rip him apart. He could feel eyes watching him, hear their growls, fangs at his neck-

“Xeph?”

Xephos snapped back into reality to find that he had stopped running. In fact, he had stopped moving entirely. The damp grass of the forest floor soaked through his trousers as he knelt on the ground, clutching his lantern to his chest.

“Xeph, s’alright. ‘Aint nothing gonna hurt you.” Honeydew said softly, placing a hand on Xephos’ arm. “If there’s anything out there I’ll make sure it can’t get anywhere near you, ‘kay?”

Xephos focused on the warmth of Honeydew’s hand against his arm and nodded. Shakily, he got to his feet, his heart still racing as he tried his best not to look at anything other than the ground directly in front of his feet. Honeydew gently took his hand and they set off once again.

 ***

There was nothing they could do by the time they got close enough to hear the screams.

Xephos and Honeydew stood on the hill overlooking the base camp. It was engulfed with flames and shrouded with smoke, under heavy attack by horrific purple monstrosities. Honeydew couldn’t believe his eyes, it was impossible. There was no way the Flux border could have reached the camp in such a short time, especially since he clearly remembered that direction being Flux-free just that morning, but there it was pressed right up against the edge, reaching its disgusting tendrils up and over the wall.

“What the _fuck?!_ ” Xephos said, his voice cracking slightly as he watched his forces get methodically ripped apart before his eyes as the enemy tore its way further into the camp.

Another explosion rocked the ground beneath their feet, shooting a cloud of flame high into the air. Honeydew did not recover fast enough to stop Xephos as he drew his sword and tossed his lantern aside, racing off down the hill at full-speed.

“Xeph wait-!” Honeydew called, scrambling to follow. The grass was slick under his feet, forcing him to slow down lest he lose his already very fragile balance.

“Gods fucking dammit.” He muttered under his breath as he picked his way over a pile of rubble and squeezed through a hole blown into the wall of the camp.

It was even worse up close. The smoke was so thick it hurt to breathe and the heat was nearly unbearable. A scream pierced the air from very close by and Honeydew had to pay extra attention to make sure it was not Xephos. He rounded the flaming wreckage of someone’s tent to find himself on the main pathway. The sounds of fighting pressed in on him from both sides, and up close he could see just how horrible the flux really was.

It was like a wet, pulpy fungus, slithering across the ground like it had a mind of its own. With it came horrible beasts, emaciated abominations with drooping purple skin and long, disfigured claws. Their eyes blazed bright and featureless as they towered over their unfortunate victims and tore them in half with merely a single swipe. Honeydew realised that these were probably the monsters that had attacked Xephos’ squad a few days earlier.

Honeydew dived quickly behind a pile of rubble when he heard the lumbering footsteps of a Flux monster approaching from his left. He watched it pass by, its sights locked on another unfortunate soul. He was about to resume his search when he heard a familiar shout.

“Get away from my employees you horrible creature!”

“Xeph!” Honeydew poked his head out from behind the rubble pile to see Xephos standing further down the path, his sword drawn and held defensively in front of him. He looked scared, but there was a distinct determination in his stance as he threatened the monster bearing mindlessly down on him. It swung at him, but he leapt back and sliced a cut into the thick flesh of its arm. It let out a wet howl and swung again, faster this time. Xephos dodged by mere inches, but was too late to counterattack.

Honeydew scrambled to help, stumbling and tripping over the loose bricks as he leapt from cover. With a cry he charged at the creature, axe held aloft above his head. He brought it around as hard as he could against its knee, but the blow merely bounced off. Although Honeydew’s attack had made nothing more than a dent, it distracted the creature long enough for Xephos to aim a blow to its side - except his attack did next to nothing as well. Something impacted Honeydew hard in the chest and sent him flying like he weighed little more than a beach ball. He impacted the wall and bounced off, landing on his stomach on the bloodstained gravel path.

Everything hurt. Honeydew could not seem to catch his breath and was pretty sure whatever that creature had hit him with had broken at least two of his ribs. He lifted himself up with a groan of pain. His axe had flown somewhere out of sight, leaving him weapon-less and powerless to do anything as he watched the creature turn its lifeless eyes back to Xephos, who was fruitlessly attempting to dent it, watched it skewer him through the chest with three long claws and toss his unmoving body aside like a sack of dirt. The creature did not even glance at him as it resumed its slow lumber down the path, toothless jaws agape.

Honeydew struggled to his feet, his arms wrapped around his aching chest and tears stinging his eyes. He had to run, get out of here. This place was doomed. He reasoned that at least some of the vehicles in the lot must have survived, and so set off towards it as fast as he could.

His assumption turned out to be correct. There were two small trucks left, one by the time Honeydew made it into the lot itself. He dove into the back of the last one right as it began to move. He grabbed onto the side of the basin to stop himself from flying out as the truck shot away, out through one of the main gates and off into the Electrian countryside, towards Becropolis.

Most of the refugees in the back with him were testificates, and were babbling frantically to each other in their strange language. However, a few of them were Overworlders and shot Honeydew knowing looks as he watched the wreckage of the camp grow smaller and smaller until it was but a pillar of smoke in the distance.

They reached the border of Becropolis within the hour. Their truck skidded to a stop among the few others that had made it out alive and whoever was driving cut the engine. Honeydew stayed long after the rest of the refugees had left, his arms wrapped around his aching ribcage as he sat with his back against the edge of the basin. He reasoned that Xephos must surely be sorting things out at Yoglabs by now, perhaps even already on his way back; perhaps he’d bring reinforcements. And he would be fine, Honeydew reassured himself, Xephos would be alive and well and he would see him again soon…

“ _Well wassssn’t that fun?_ ” Hissed a voice from nowhere in particular. “ _I almosssst forgive you for ssssummoning me._ ”

Honeydew ground his teeth and resisted the urge to tell him to fuck off.

“Do you see now?” He said instead.

“ _Sssssee what? That your filthy, disssssgusssting Overworld issss tainted by foul magic?_ ” Israphel’s voice had converged on a tangible location and, although Honeydew did not bother to look, it was clear that he was somewhere on the roof of the truck. “ _I could sssssenssse that already. What of it?_ ”

“So, you have to help us!” Honeydew insisted. He had gone past fear at this point and was now merely frustrated.

“ _Have to?_ ” Israphel laughed; it was a horrible, chilling sound. “ _I do not **have** to do anything, you ssssstupid little thing._ ”

“Hey! We didn’t go through all the bullshit to summon you for you to be this useless.”

“ _Apologiesssss._ ” -it was not an apology at all.

Honeydew heard the quiet click of boots hitting pavement and something that sounded halfway between air compressing and an enderman teleporting. A bright purple glow spilled over the edge of the basin and, despite himself, Honeydew was curious. He looked over the rim and accidentally met Israphel’s blood red gaze. He was standing beside what looked like a frameless Nether portal, the source of the ethereal glow that illuminated the sunless pavement.

“ _If you will excusssse me-_ ” Israphel said slowly, not allowing Honeydew to look away. “ _I have other thingsssss I wisssh to be doing with my time._ ”

He released Honeydew and turned on his heel, making toward his portal. It took Honeydew a few precious seconds to gather his nerve enough to call out.

“Wait!”

Israphel paused and looked over his shoulder.

“The Nether is in danger too.” Honeydew reasoned. “All of Minecraftia’ll be ruined by this. It ain’t just us Overworlders in trouble.”

He might as well be reasoning with a brick wall for all the good it did. Israphel gave him one final, almost pitying look before he stepped through the portal and disappeared. It closed behind him, snapping shut suddenly and extinguishing the only proper light in the desolate street. Honeydew let out a sigh and stared absently at the spot where the portal had vanished. Really, he wasn’t sure why he thought that would go any differently.

At least he would see Xephos again soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Yes, I know that first bit is not true to the actual 'Witchery' mod it's based on, but for the sake of dramatics I had to change a few things. Not to toot my own horn, but I am actually rather good at Witchery.  
> ((This chapter also uses a lot of my own lore for the universe so if things don't make sense that would probably be why. Apologies!))


	7. Aftermath

Over the next few days the survivors gathered at a temporary holding in one of the empty warehouses at the edge of Becropolis. Honeydew did not expect anyone to notice his presence, as usual, and was surprised when more than a few refugees came forward to ask for his leadership. Slightly overwhelmed, he tried his best to do what Xephos would have done and got the distinct feeling that he had failed quite badly.

Honeydew sat atop a large rock outside the warehouse, kicking his feet and watching the sun sink further and further below the horizon. He watched the traffic into the Sphere; tiny ships and planes silhouetted against the brilliant fire-orange sky.

A fast-moving jet caught his eye and Honeydew leaned forward unconsciously, tracking its movement with rapt attention. It was a little hard to tell, but it was emblazoned with the seal of Voltzan and looked to be about the size of the one they had first ridden to Becropolis.

Honeydew watched it soar into the sphere and disappear behind a cluster of skyscrapers. He waited on that rock for nearly half an hour before the screech of tires heralded the arrival of a small squadron of trucks.

Xephos leapt from the lead vehicle, looking ruffled and about ready to rip his hair out. He yelled a few things to the rest of the squadron and stomped away toward the warehouse. Halfway there he caught sight of Honeydew and bee-lined straight for him. Honeydew greeted him with a small “hey”, which he did not return.

“What’s going on here?” Xephos demanded. Honeydew noticed his rapid change in demeanour with a sinking heart.

“Dunno really. It’s a big mess.” He said truthfully. Xephos grabbed fistfuls of his own hair and whirled on his heel.

“Four- erm, _five_ people will be here in a few minutes. I’ve told them that you’ll explain what’s happening. Now I have things to do- lots of- goddamn-” He said without turning around. Then, as briskly as he had approached, Xephos stalked away, muttering and cursing under his breath. Honeydew muttered a “yes sir” and watched him disappear into the gaping mouth of the warehouse.

As promised, Honeydew was approached a few minutes later by a small group of people. He recognised Nilesy and Lomadia, but they were accompanied by two strangers and, to his shock, a dinosaur. In his initial alarm, Honeydew pitched backwards off of his rock. His collision with the ground sent a stab of pain through his tender ribs and he sat up with a groan.

“Uhh, hello? Sorry, hello? Are you alright?”

Honeydew looked up to see a young woman peering down at him, her bright blue eyes wide with a measure of concern.

“M’fine.” Honeydew mumbled, getting to his feet. The woman hopped back, her vibrant red hair bobbing, to stand beside the other stranger. He didn’t seem very happy to be there, judging by the way his eyes kept flitting towards the warehouse and the way he had his dark black cloak wound tight around himself. Honeydew assumed these two were the ‘friends’ Lalna had spoken of. He didn’t seem to be able to form a proper opinion on looks alone, but they seemed nice enough.

“Your, uuh, friend told us you’d know what’s going on?” The woman asked after a few awkward moments of silence from her companions.

“Xeph would…”

“Huh?”

“Nothing!” Honeydew leant against his rock. “I dunno what he means by ‘knows what’s going on’ though, ‘cause I never get bloody told anything. I know that base camp is ruined and pretty much everyone’s dead and that Becropolis is gonna be under attack very soon, but other than that…” He shrugged. “Don’t know shit.”

There was harsh gasp from behind the line of strangers. They turned to see Nilesy, with his hands over his mouth and his eyes wide with horror.

“ _What!?_ ” He croaked through his hands. “Base camp’s…. But- Mr. Cat!”

Lomadia put a hand on his shoulder as he covered his face, not seeming to care that he had just displaced his glasses.

“He might have gotten out alive…?” She suggested. Nilesy groaned.

“Under attack by what?”

Honeydew twitched in surprise and turned towards the voice. It was the tall, slightly spooky stranger that had addressed him, and who was now staring at him with uncomfortable intensity.

“Uuuh, the Flux and its ‘orrible Flux things.” Honeydew answered somewhat lamely. To his relief, the stranger looked away. He stared eastward, unmoving, for what felt like an eternity.

“Hmm… I see.” He said. “Quite the predicament you have over here. We should act fast.”

Honeydew blinked. “Okay?”

“These two-” The stranger motioned to Nilesy and Lomadia. “-Told me you want to commune with the End. Do you have a precise plan?”

“I- Not me. I think Lalna might though. You should talk to him when he gets back.” Honeydew said. The two strangers visibly tensed, and even their dinosaur seemed to gain a layer of alertness.

“Lalna? Where is he?” The tall one demanded sharply.

“Off. Xeph sent him on a mission and we haven’t seen him for a few days now.”

“Where to?”

“To fetch Lal-” Honeydew caught himself. “To find someone.”

“Interesting…”

“If you want to go find him be my guest. I mean, you’d think he’d’ve at least checked back by now…” Honeydew said, partially to himself.

“I would like to get settled in first.”

“Pick a spot.” Honeydew made a sweeping motion towards the warehouse. He was slightly wary of offering too much, but he assumed a space to stay was something to be given freely. The tall stranger nodded and stalked away without a single word. The woman hesitated, looked to Honeydew, and then offered a hand to him.

“Zoeya Proasheck.” She said. “That was Rythian. Sorry, he can be a bit short sometimes… Well, all the time.”

Honeydew accepted her hand and shook it.

“Honeydew. Nice to meet’cha”

“Same, but I should go now. Gotta get settled in and all that. C’mon Tee, let’s go find our endermage~” Zoeya disengaged herself and skip-walked off towards the warehouse. She paused at the doorway, waved, and vanished inside. The dinosaur gave Honeydew the briefest of toothy grins before trundling along after her.

“Odd bunch.” Honeydew mumbled. He crossed his arms and observed Nilesy and Lomadia out of the corner of his eye. They did not seem to have noticed that the newcomers had left, and were talking in low tones to each other. Nilesy had removed his hands from his face, but looked no less distressed. Honeydew was hesitant to walk away in case they needed something from him. The nippy dusk air swayed his decision and, in the end, he decided to leave them be and retreated into the relative warmth of the warehouse.

He entered to a barrage of many voices, echoing off the bare metal walls. He recognised Xephos’ almost immediately, and attempted to pick him out in the crowd. Honeydew spotted him relatively close to the entrance, engaged in an animated conversation with some of the higher-ranking survivors. He looked, if possible, even more stressed than before. Honeydew was seized by a sudden urge to rub his back and tell him it was going to be alright. He bit his lip and forced himself to turn away. Taking a moment to locate his bedroll, he wandered over and sat down.

Suddenly feeling very exhausted, Honeydew decided it would be best for him to attempt to get some rest. He settled down and drew the rough, patchy covers over himself, listening to the sounds of the warehouse as it quieted down piece by piece. Someone shut the gates with a bang, but Honeydew was only half aware of it. Slowly, he drifted off.

 ----

Morning dawned bright and busy. Honeydew was jarred awake by someone tripping over his bedroll and stumbling away without so much as a ‘sorry’. Grumbling, he rubbed at his eyes and peered blearily at the ceiling. He still had the covers pulled up to his chin, and was reluctant to leave the warmth of his bed. He shifted onto his side and made a game of picking out familiar faces as he gathered the willpower to sit up.

Honeydew observed Zoeya and her dinosaur rush past, laden down with books and cups of coffee. He watched testificates wander by in clusters, babbling in their nasally voices. Once, he even saw a flash of brown feathers as Lomadia soared by in the spacious emptiness overhead.

In fact, just about the only person he didn’t see was Xephos.

Still drowsy but curious now, Honeydew sat up with a grunt. He took a moment to locate his helmet and boots before setting off through the warehouse. He searched the entire building twice before finding Xephos among a cluster of trucks outside, propped up against a tire with a bottle of whiskey in his hand. Even as Honeydew watched he raised it to his lips and took another swig.

“Xeph?” Honeydew called, somewhat warily. Xephos’ stare went straight through him.

“Leave me alone.” He said. Honeydew was alarmed to hear how badly he was slurring. “Don’t wan’ comp’ny.”

Honeydew frowned. Undeterred, he walked over and sat down. Xephos did not even attempt to stop him.

“What are you doing? You don’t drink.” Honeydew reminded him after a while. Xephos mumbled a “fuck off”.

With a sigh Honeydew pried the bottle from his grasp and tossed it to the side; how empty it was merely added to his already long list of concerns. Faintly, he could hear it land with a ‘ _thump_ ’ in the grass. Xephos looked bewildered for a few seconds before he drew his knees up to his chest and rested his head on them.

“’m a fucking failure.” He mumbled. “I can’t do this. We’re all going to die.”

“First of all.” Honeydew began. “You’ve done fine. Don’t go thinking this is all your fault, which I assume you are ‘cause if not I can’t imagine why you’d be doing-” he gestured to all of Xephos. “This.”

“I can’t do it. Can’t do it.” Xephos kept mumbling. “’m a bad leader. I -hic- failed them all. It’s hopeless.”

Honeydew softened a little. “We’re not down yet. But I’m pretty sure that, if there’s an answer out there, it ain’t this.”

Xephos simply started sobbing into his knees. Honeydew wrapped his arms around his torso and tried to ignore the pungent scent of alcohol that clung to Xephos’ clothes and hung heavy on his breath.

“It ain’t this.” Honeydew repeated, giving him a light squeeze.

“I wan’t’ give up.” Xephos whimpered.

“You can’t. _We_ can’t. We’ve got a duty.”

Xephos slurred something unintelligible and grabbed clumsy handfuls of grass. Honeydew hooked an arm under Xephos’ leg and hefted him onto his lap, somewhat awkwardly as Xephos was a good deal taller than him. Surprisingly, he didn’t even attempt to fight back; he merely curled in on himself and leant limply against Honeydew’s shoulder.

“C’mon Xeph, let’s go inside.” Honeydew said.

“No. No.” Xephos mumbled frantically. “Don’t wan’ them look’n at me. Don’t wan’ their dissapoin’mn’t.”

“We can’t just stay out here.”

“’M not going back in there. No.” Xephos’ grip tightened and he nuzzled his head against Honeydew’s shoulder.

Honeydew would like to have replied, but was having trouble forming a proper sentence and remembering to breathe at the same time. He was acutely aware of the way Xephos’ tail was curled tightly around his leg.

Honeydew leant back with a sigh. For all his talk of not giving up, he was at a loss for what to do. Perhaps he’d go see Lomadia or Rythian. Maybe they’d know what to do.

But that was for later. For now, he had to make sure Xephos was out of trouble.

 ----

Rythian sat hunched over his makeshift desk like a huge, gangly vulture. He was scribbling away at a long roll of parchment, but what he was writing Zoeya could not see. He would often ask her to pass him books or ingredients, but other than that he had not moved from his spot all morning. She walked up and peered over his shoulder.

“What’re we doing? What’s goin’ on?”

“Research.” Rythian replied, pausing his scribbling. “This is an entirely new case of Flux poisoning. I’d like to know what we’re dealing with before I make any decisions.” Then he added quietly. “Especially when the End is involved…”

Teep rested his heavy snout on Rythian’s desk with a jarring ‘thump’. Rythian winced and steadied his inkwell.

“I think he’s bored.” Zoeya said.

“Then he can go entertain himself.”

Rythian resumed his writing. It was a little hard to tell, but Zoeya thought she could see a mischievous glint in Teep’s beady orange eyes.

“Or.” Rythian continued absently. “You two could go investigate all this strange energy that I can feel hanging around.”

Zoeya raised an eyebrow. “Energy? What like magic stuff? Is it that, what, ‘Flux’?”

“No… I don’t think so. This is something… I hesitate to say ‘worse’, but it’s just about as bad.” Rythian tapped the feather-end of his quill against where his chin would be. “We’re far away from it out here, but if you want something to do you can go into the city and investigate.”

“But I’m not magic-y like you. I dunno what I’m looking for.”

“Take this.” Zoeya barely reacted in time to catch the little device Rythian dropped into her hands. “It’ll glow when it finds a connection.”

The device was a small golden ring, just barely the size of Zoeya’s hand, with a grey crystal in the centre. The crystal didn’t seem to be attached to the ring by any means, yet wouldn’t budge when she gave it a yank.

“Gotcha.” Zoeya nodded. She walked around to Teep, who had lifted himself from the desk, and dropped the device into his bag. He followed eagerly as she weaved her way from the warehouse.

Once outside, she oriented herself and began to walk towards the main bulk of Becropolis. However, she had barely made it five steps before she was yanked to a halt. She twisted to see Teep, with his teeth clamped down on her cape. He released her and motioned towards his back with one tiny arm.

“Are we going for a ride, Tee?” Zoeya asked. Teep nodded and crouched down to allow her to clamber onto his back.

Now mounted, the two of them raced off toward the city.

 ----

Rythian watched the tiny shapes of Zoeya and Teep exiting the warehouse. With the smallest of sighs he looked back down at his notes, his quill poised but empty. In truth, he would have very much liked to go with them, but there was a lot to do and not a lot of time. He could, in theory, just go without preparation, but without the proper knowledge and the plans that Lalna may or may not hold it would be a fruitless mission.

“Uuh, hey? Hey there.”

Rythian looked up curiously, twisted around, and then looked down. Standing a respectable distance away and regarding him with cautious curiosity was the dwarf that had welcomed them the day before. He looked a little tired and his cheeks held a faint flush.

“Hello.” Rythian said, carefully replacing his quill. “Is there something you need?”

“Not really. I was just wondering if you wanted any help. Dunno why I’m asking you, though. Maybe ‘cause Nilesy and Lomadia’re missing and I don’t know anyone else.” The dwarf shrugged.

“Well, I appreciate the offer…Uuuh-” Rythian made a helpless motion with one hand.

“Honeydew.”

“Honeydew, but I don’t think there is anything you can help me with…” Rythian paused. “Although my apprentice has just left. She might appreciate the company, if you think you can catch up with her.”

“I’ll try my best. Thanks.” Honeydew gave a respectful nod and dashed off. Rythian watched him leave, then picked up his quill and resumed his work.

 ----

“So how do you work…”

Zoeya held the little device in her hand. She gave it a shake, and waved it around a bit, but the gem in the centre remained grey and lifeless. It was possible that it simply had nothing to detect, but then again she couldn’t be sure that she was using it right.

“Any ideas Tee?” Zoeya asked. She handed the device to Teep, who paused his running to examine it. He licked it, bit the rim, and shrugged. Zoeya grimaced and took it back.

Teep resumed his steady gallop. Zoeya looked back down at the device in her hand; she would just have to assume that it worked by itself. Rythian probably pre-programmed it, so to speak.

Distantly, she could swear she heard someone calling her name.

“Tee, wait…”

Teep slowed to a walk. Zoeya listened intently, and heard the cry again. Curiously, she looked around, eventually spotting someone racing up the hill from which they had come. They cupped their hands around their mouth and called again. Teep stopped to allow them to catch up.

“Oh, heya Honeydew!” Zoeya said cheerfully as Honeydew ran right up to them and stopped, huffing, his hands on his knees.

“Hey there.” He managed. “Rythian said - that you - might want some - company.”

“If you wanna come, the more the merrier. I don’t think Tee would want you riding him though, he only lets me do that…” Zoeya looked curiously at Teep, who bared his teeth in what she assumed was a confirmation of her statement.

“S’fine. I can just walk… More.”

Honeydew fell into stride beside them as Teep resumed his trot.

“So what’s the mission?” He asked after a while.

“Rythian says there’s some kind of bad magic hanging around and he wants me to find it. He gave me this but I don’t know how to work it.” Zoeya said, showing Honeydew the device. He eyed its gold rim greedily for a few seconds.

“’S a nice trinket you have there but I’m not a wizard or anything, so unless you want me to light it on fire I’m afraid I can’t help you.”

“Shucks…”

 ----

It took a solid twenty minutes before they reached even the border of the city proper. The buildings that rose up around them were short and poorly maintained, bearing shady storefronts and dilapidated apartments. The road was cluttered with trash and abandoned vehicles. Feeling slightly uneasy, Zoeya slid from Teep’s back and fished around in his bag for the device. To her surprise, she drew it out to find that it was glowing red.

“Well that’s something.” Honeydew whistled.

Zoeya swung the device around, discovering that the little crystal in the centre always pointed in a specific direction. She assumed it worked like a compass and set off in the direction it indicated, hoping, since the crystal was not very clear, that she was going in the right direction.

The device led them to a dark, abandoned street behind one of the taller skyscrapers. Zoeya observed that Honeydew had started acting very shifty the moment they had rounded the corner. He kept looking at a very specific spot on the road. Zoeya also observed that said specific spot just happened to be where the device was pointing. The crystal was pulsing rapidly with a bright red-orange light. To be sure, Zoeya circled the point several times. It did not change.

Out of curiosity, she walked right up and stood on it, which caused the device to spin wildly. She couldn’t help but giggle; it looked very silly.

“Well I think we found our odd magic. Let’s report back to Rythian, he’ll want to know this.” Zoeya proposed.

“Yes, yes let’s go back to the warehouse.” Honeydew agreed, altogether too quickly. Teep glared at him. Then, without warning, he snatched Honeydew up by the strap on his back and hoisted him into the air.

“Oi! Let me go!” Honeydew demanded, struggling. Teep winced as one of his flailing punches collided with his snout but did not relent.

“ _Tee!_ Bad! You don’t need to do that. I know he’s suspicious but he’s on our side.” Zoeya admonished.

With the air of a bear trap opening, Teep released Honeydew, who landed on his belly with a huff and quickly got up. Grumbling, he retreated to a safe distance. Zoeya walked over and stuffed the device into Teep’s bag. Sulkily, he hunched down to allow her to climb onto his back.

Then they were off again.

 ----

Half an hour later the three of them arrived back at the warehouse. Rythian looked up from his work as they approached, replacing his quill and raising an eyebrow expectantly. Zoeya observed that his roll of parchment was beginning to droop off of the edge of his desk.

“We found it.” She declared, taking a moment to dig the device from Teep’s bag before handing it to him proudly.

“Ah, excellent work!” Rythian tapped the centre crystal and adopted an intense look. “Hmm…”

Out of the corner of her eye Zoeya could see Honeydew shuffle a few more feet away.

“This is curious. It looks like a concentration of Nether and Void energy, but it structured in such a way that I cannot decipher its purpose.” Rythian muttered. “It could be a way marker, a node or even an incursion point…” He looked up. “Where did you find it?”

“In an old back street a little ways into the city.” Zoeya said. Rythian nodded slowly.

“I need to investigate this. Hold on, I’ll be back in a few minutes, ten at the most.” He said. Then, with a quiet ‘ _vwip_ ’ and puff of violet motes, he disappeared.

“Right then.” Honeydew’s voice piped up from where he was standing a good five metres away. “I don’t think you need me anymore. I’ll just - go - do other things now…”

With that he scampered off. Zoeya exchanged a glance with Teep, who shrugged and settled down to rest at the foot of Rythian’s desk.

Sticking true to his word, Rythian returned a few minutes later.

“Portal! It’s a portal anchor!” He seethed. His eyes blazed a bright violet as he paced back and forth angrily, his fists clenched so hard they were white. “And I can’t close it! Christ, whatever made it must have been incredibly powerful.”

“Then what do we do about it?” Zoeya asked from her spot sitting cross-legged on the floor. A moment passed in which Rythian ran a tense hand through his hair and Zoeya got to her feet.

“Nothing. There’s nothing I can do.” He concluded with resignation.

“Oh… Well, I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“I hope so.” Rythian glanced at his stack of books and parchment. “Anyway, I think… we might be ready.”

“You. You might be ready. I dunno what you’re even doing.”

“If all goes well, you won’t need to. But… If you really want I can fill you in later. For now I need you and Tee to gather up some supplies. Food, weapons, anything you deem necessary and anything they can spare.”

“Wait, what? What are you gonna do then?” Zoeya tilted her head at Rythian, who sighed.

“I’m going to go find Lalna.”


	8. Old Friends

Living in Lalnable’s ‘secret lair’, Lalna reflected, was not as bad as he expected. Sure, Lalnable was more than ruthless, but the room Lalna had been given, and henceforth locked in, was large and homely, if you ignored the shoddy lighting, hand-sized spiders and leaks.

He let out a huff and sat down on his bed. He had last seen Lalnable two days ago, not counting the one time he had come around to deposit more food, and was more curious than frightened as to what he had planned, and what he could possibly need Lalna for that he couldn’t do himself. With a cursory glance at his blueprint-covered table he kicked off his boots and laid down.

What Lalna assumed to be morning came with several loud bangs and an intense pain in his jaw. Lalnable scowled down at him while he blinked the sleep from his eyes and rubbed sulkily at his cheek.

“Get up.” Lalnable ordered. He stepped back to give Lalna room to swing his legs off his bed, which he did with an air of disdain. Grumbling, he set to lacing up his boots.

“You’re coming with me.” Lalnable said.

“What, are you arresting me?”

Lalnable scoffed. “Technically, you’ll find I’ve already done so. But no, we have a little trip to make tonight.”

“Brilliant, so it’s night. Ever thought of travelling during the day or are you secretly some kind of vampire?”

“Even the Flux sleeps.” Was Lalnable’s only answer. Lalna rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“Care to tell me what we’re doing?”

Lalnable held up what Lalna instantly recognised as his tracker. “As luck would have it, I still happen to have some of your apprentice’s DNA on hand.” He held the tracker in both hands and cracked a cruel smile. “You’ve made a rather nice tool for me, thank you. Let’s make use of it, shall we?”

“You’re mad.” Lalna told him. “Going out into the Flux is suicide, night or not.”

“I’ve got to at least try.”

He may have just been imagining things, but Lalna swore he could detect a hint if desperation in Lalnable’s voice.

\----

It was dark outside. It almost seemed alive, breathing, without the light of a moon eternally blocked by heavy, black clouds. The light from Lalnable’s complex faded too quickly, leaving them in pitch darkness with only the light from Lalna’s flashlight to guide them.

Lalnable held the tracker that he had stolen out in front of him. Occasionally, it would emit a muffled ‘beep’ and he would shift his course. Lalna was not convinced that either of them would make it to morning alive, especially considering where Lalnable had made it very clear they were heading.

They had no sooner made it over the threshold of the infection when a shriek cut through the air. Something fast and dark flashed through the beam of Lalna’s flashlight and vanished into the bushes faster than he could follow it.

“Get down!” Lalnable barked.

The shriek came again. Lalna just barely ducked in time to avoid the raking claws of the attacking creature as it leapt at them from the shadows. Light glinted off purple stained claws and was reflected in the many filmy, blue eyes of what must have once been a wolf as it stalked around them in slow circles, hissing and growling, just barely keeping ahead of Lalna’s light.

Suddenly, a blast of red fluid hit the creature full in the face. It reeled back, shrieking, and clawed at the acid eating away at its muzzle. Lalnable fired another blast, and kept firing until the creature’s shrieks died and its body stilled, consumed by the acid and giving off a nauseating reek. Without so much as a huff he hooked the dripping rifle to his belt and took up his tracker.

Lalna took a few gasps of air and tried to calm his racing heart. He had barely enough time to regain his faculties before Lalnable was off again, stalking into the darkness. Lalna rushed to catch up, if only because he was desperate not to be left alone.

Morning dawned eventually, but the two of them were not around to witness the sun as it rose, orange and brilliant, over the distant mountains.

Lalna sat on his bed, tired, frustrated and nursing his many wounds. Nothing, they had found nothing - unless you counted lots of horrible monsters which, contrary to what Lalnable had said, looked very much awake. Only once did Lalnable’s tracker spike, but the signal was lost before he managed to get a lock on it.

Lalna listened to the sounds of a raging tantrum in the next room. He had no doubts in his mind that Lalnable would try again tomorrow night-

-Or would have, if it weren’t for the intruder.

\----

Rythian descended the rough, metal-corrugated steps carefully. His blazing violet eyes swept methodically back and forth, searching for anything that had the potential to make itself a threat. The walls were made of the same metal as the steps, with holes and vents, criss-crossed with lattice-like networks of pipes and bathed in the dim yellow glow of lights crusted with grime.

Rythian stopped just short of the camera at the bottom and near silently skipped though the Void, reappearing just out of its range and slipping ghost-like into the next room. His grip tightened on the handle of his katar, but he did not draw it. He simply stood in the shadows, examining the man sitting before him, his back to the door. He definitely _looked_ like Lalna, with the same expansive, lab coat-covered backside and mop of blond hair, and there was a distinctive Lalna-ness in the way he was crouched over his microscope, but at the same time Rythian felt something amiss with his composition.

He drew his katar. The man jumped at the sound, then, with startling dexterity for his bulk, leapt from his chair and twirled around, clutching a squat silver rifle tightly at his side. For a split-second his expression flickered with something akin to pain.

“Rythian?”

“Hello. I would say ‘Lalna’, but I have a feeling that’s incorrect.”

“Always a clever one.” Not-Lalna purred, smiling with altogether too many teeth. “I assume Xephos has sent you?”

“I come of my own accord.” Rythian shifted his stance at the predatory way the other was looking at him. “Now I must ask; what have you done with Lalna?”

“I cut him up and boiled him into a stew…” Not-Lalna paused. “Now don’t look at me like that, I was only kidding. What do you want him for?”

“What do _you_ want him for?”

Not-Lalna narrowed his eyes, a gesture Rythian quickly returned.

“I see we are playing _this_ game. Well… _I_ need his assistance, and you are welcome to try and take him from me if you think you can.”

“You will regret that.”

Rythian leapt forward, katar bared. Not-Lalna brought his rifle up and fired a blast of some kind of red fluid, which Rythian dodged with a small yet disorienting teleport. He was only just barely too late to counterattack, and Not-Lalna managed to bring the barrel of his rifle around to deflect Rythian’s swing. He teleported again, and was likewise blocked.

Not-Lalna fired a barrage of blasts, most of which Rythian managed to dodge with a frantic bout of teleportation that left him feeling dizzy and drained. One of the blasts must have clipped his shoulder, as he could feel red-hot acid eating its way into his skin. He could do nothing about it at the moment, as he was forced to duck when Not-Lalna swung the heavy end of his rifle like a hammer. It collided with the wall and stuck between a pair of pipes, giving Rythian just enough time to tackle Not-Lalna and slam him into the wall, his katar pressed firmly against the other’s throat.

“It seems I am regretting it,” Not-Lalna’s dark crimson eyes glinted in the half light, “Are you going to kill me, Rythian?”

Rythian did not, in fact, kill him, although the thought definitely crossed his mind. What he did instead was deliver a swift blow to the side of his head, knocking him cleanly unconscious. Rythian watched the imposter slip to the floor and sheathed his katar.

Straightening his cloak, he performed a thorough sweep of the room. It was small and as poorly constructed as the staircase and room before it, with rough metal floors, slick with moisture in some places, and tables full of vicious looking implements and sealed glass vials. There were two doors, three counting the exit. One of them was plain and wooden, the other metal with some kind of electronic lock.

Rythian walked over and examined the locked door. It looked to require a passcode. He searched the room, but found nothing that could possibly be used to unlock it. Even a search of ‘Lalna’s pockets yielded nothing of the sort.

“Ah screw it.” He muttered to himself, drawing a red, teardrop-shaped object from the pouch at his belt. He stepped back, raised the destruction catalyst, and blew the door straight off its hinges with an ear-splitting ‘ _bang_ ’ and shriek of metal-on-metal.

Lalna sat atop a tattered woollen bed, ruddy-cheeked and wide-eyed, staring at Rythian like he couldn’t believe he was there. Rythian examined him for a moment, from his injured right leg all the way to the goggles perched, dishevelled, atop his head and deducted that he was, indeed, Lalna.

“Rythian? What- how?” He stuttered. He blinked a few times and focused his gaze. “You, umm, you certainly have a knack for dramatics don’t you.”

Rythian gave him a displeased look, or as much of one as he could. “Careful now, I might decide to leave you here.”

He wouldn’t, of course, but it was satisfying to see the look on Lalna’s face.

“Okok, ok! Thanks for, erm, rescuing me.”

Rythian said nothing and an awkward moment passed in which they simply stared at each other. Lalna cleared his throat.

“What did you do with Lalnable?”

“Lalnable?”

“Guy who looks like me.”

Rythian glanced over his shoulder. “Nothing, I merely incapacitated him.” He looked back. “Which is why I suggest we get moving before he wakes up.”

“Ah, oh yeah! Xephos wanted me to bring him back to base camp…”

“I can do that.” Rythian leapt at the opportunity to show off and flashed his Void ring. “Now get up.”

Lalna flinched. He quickly got to his feet, sucking in a pained gasp though his teeth and favouring his injured leg. He limped as close behind Rythian as he dared as they exited Lalna’s room.

“Grab a hold of him, will you?” Rythian ordered, gesturing at where Lalnable sat propped against the wall. Lalna looked as if he had just been asked to plunge his hand into a bucket of slugs. With a disgusted look on his face, he walked over and grabbed a light hold of Lalnable’s shoulder. Rythian likewise took hold of Lalna’s shoulder, summoned his will, and dropped all three of them into the Void. Then they were flying, shooting over the landscape at a speed that crossed miles and miles in a matter of seconds.

With a light ‘ _pfwaff_ ’ they landed on the outskirts of Becropolis. Rythian stumbled and clutched at a lamppost for support. His breath would not come and his bones felt like they were filled with ice. Lalna did not seem to have fared much better, and was off retching onto the grass.

“Why are we- we at Becropolis? I thought we were going back to base camp?” He asked, wiping his mouth on his sleeve.

“I’m not the best one to ask. They’ve set up a holding just over there. I would suggest asking them to explain instead.” Rythian said, pointing towards one of the distant warehouses. Deep lines of worry had etched themselves into Lalna’s face. He hoisted Lalnable over his shoulder without much more than a grumble. Rythian trailed behind him, exhausted, as he set off at a brisk trot.

The three of them made for a peculiar sight as they pushed their way through the bustling interior of the warehouse. Rythian could feel pairs upon pairs of eyes watching them, pricking uncomfortably at his flesh. Lalna deposited Lalnable down in a secluded corner and tied his wrists together, and then tied that to a section of the wall behind him.

Lalna may have said something afterwards, but if he did Rythian was not around to hear it. He slipped silently away and, finding his workspace, collapsed into his chair. Resting his head against the hard wooden top of his desk, he attempted to convalesce something that might pass as strength.

\----

Xephos was not usually one to resent mornings. On the contrary, he fancied himself as a bit of a morning person and quite enjoyed the peaceful quiet of pre-dawn hours. However, it was near impossible from him to enjoy _anything_ through the skull-splitting, mind-numbing _headache_.

It did serve him right, he supposed, for being such a coward. He deserved every iota of pain this hangover could throw at him, but it was not even half of what made his morning so horrible. No, it was Honeydew’s sheer _disappointment_ in him that left Xephos sitting on his box alone, sipping moodily at a grainy slurry that did not even pass as ‘coffee’ and definitely should not have been marketed as such.

“Xephos! Hey, hey Xephos!”

Brilliant. Xephos looked up with a groan. He did not have the capacity to be surprised, even as Lalna ran right up to him and skidded to a halt.

“What? What do _you_ want? How did you even get here?” Xephos snapped.

“Rythian, he came to rescue me.”

“From what, your incompetence?”

Lalna made a face. “No need to be rude, considering I found Lalnable like you asked. Got him here, even.”

“Finally, some good news.” Xephos sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Sorry. Thank you, Lalna. I‘ll… go talk to him in a second. Now please, leave me alone.”

Lalna crossed his arms. “After you explain what we’re doing here and why we’re not at base camp,‘cause everyone keeps directing me to you and nobody’s told me shit.”

“Base camp is destroyed.” Xephos said bluntly. He took a sip of his coffee and watched the horror sink into Lalna’s face.

“W-what? No, no that’s-no! All my research is there!”

“Was there.” Xephos corrected. “All gone to Flux now.”

“I’ve got to go back. I was so close, I can’t just leave it!”

“If you go back there, Lalna, you **will** die.”

“Then that’s my problem.”

Lalna whirled and stalked away. Xephos drained the last of his coffee and set the empty cup down on the box beside him. He folded his hands in his lap and hung his head. He supposed he should probably go speak to Lalnable or stop Lalna or attend to whatever else this damn resistance demanded of him.

Xephos slid down off his box, clasped his shaking hands behind his back and beelined toward the nearest refugee under his command. He asked about Lalna, and by extension Lalnable, and was pointed towards the back end of the warehouse. He found what he was looking for hidden behind a large stack of crates and spare wall panels.

“Well well, look who it is.” Lalnable croaked from his position, hunched awkwardly on the floor. Xephos examined him with the beginnings of a curled lip.

“I’m surprised you’ve not put me in cage yet.” Lalnable continued. “Or have you been too busy for the ‘likes of me’, hmm?”

“I might still put you in a cage, _Doctor Hector_ , if you refuse to co-operate.”

Lalnable threw his head back and cackled. “Better get it ready, then!”

Xephos let out a low growl, and then said, as sweetly as he could, “I would very much like it if you didn’t force me to. So, for the sake of you and me, I suggest you be a good little clone now-” His voice went hard. “-and _listen closely_.”

“Cute, you think you can control me.”

“I can, and I will! I created you, I control you!” Xephos spat, his hands itching to grab for the hilt of his sword.

“You haven’t done a very good job so far, have you?” Lalnable said smugly.

It hadn’t even been five minutes and Xephos’ blood was already boiling. He ground his teeth.

“You are here because I- and it may shock you to hear this- need your help.” He said slowly. Lalnable opened his mouth, but Xephos cut him off. “I need you to build many, many high-powered nuclear warheads. And you will do it, or you will die trying.”

Lalnable stared at him defiantly. “No.”

“Excuse me?” Xephos said with a dangerous smile.

“I said _no._ ” Lalnable squirmed in place. “I will not do anything that could- that could endanger her, endanger my dear Echo.”

“Excuse me?” Xephos repeated.

“I will not work for you until I can ensure her safety!”

Before he could stop himself, Xephos drew his sword and placed its tip against Lalnable’s throat. “Will you not?”

Lalnable glanced at the sword, than back up at Xephos.

“No.”

 Xephos crouched down so he was eye-level with Lalnable. “Say that again.”

“No!”

Xephos felt hot rage surge through his arm. He cast his sword aside and slammed Lalnable’s head down against the hard concrete floor. Lalnable let out a yelp of pain as his arms twisted behind him.

“I do not give a _shit_ about your fucked-up little _girlfriend_.” Xephos hissed. Lalnable cried out in frustration and kicked at him. Xephos stomped viciously on his ankle and leaned in closer. “And you will obey me, or you may find yourself _without legs_.”

“Then do it! Fucking do it! Torture me, kill me! I will not hurt her! I will not let you blow her up!” Lalnable screamed, tears welling at the corners of his eyes. Xephos found it rather fascinating, somewhere beyond his power-induced high.

“Oh, don’t tempt me.” He said with a smile. “You’ve always been a tough one. I wonder how long it would take to break you. Or…” Xephos let out a dark chuff of laughter, “Or I could find your little ‘friend’ and see how resilient she is- before I put her out of her twisted misery.”

“Okay, okay!” Lalnable sobbed. “Okay fine, fine I’ll do it!”

“Good.” Xephos purred, and released him.

He left Lalnable to his own devices and retrieved his sword. Sliding it deftly into its sheath at his back, he turned to leave.

“You’ve always been sick, you know. You didn’t even need someone to _force_ you to become a monster; you managed it fine on your own.”

Xephos ignored him.

All his rage faded in the time it took him to return to his box, leaving him drained and, if possible, with even worse of a headache than before. He tucked his legs beneath him and buried his face in his hands.


	9. Keep Going

“Going somewhere?”

Lalna jerked. The potion he was holding slipped from his grasp and fell with a ‘clink’ to the floor. With a glare at the figure over his shoulder, he picked it up, examined it for cracks, and placed it into his bag.

“Oh, it’s you.”

“It’s dangerous to go out there alone.” Rythian took a step forward, and Lalna turned to face him. “I thought you were smarter than that.”

“There’s nobody here who’d ever go with me, unless you want to come.”

“I have rather more important business than humouring your suicidal antics.” Rythian stated coolly. “And speaking of it, I heard that you wanted me to commune with the End.”

“That was the idea, yeah. Can’t you get them to, like, help or something? Explain to them?”

“Is that it? Is _that_ your plan?”

“Pretty much.”

Rythian stalked forward until he was looming over Lalna, his eyes blazing. “You want me to go to the _End_ with nothing but ‘convince them’? You want me to stick my neck out for you when you have done _nothing_ but hurt me?”

Lalna shrunk back. “It’s not- I don’t- I’m not the ‘master of magic’, I dunno what they’d believe! And I’ve never done anything to hurt you!”

“No, you don’t, because you’ve never bothered to learn. And what part of putting a nuke under someone’s castle counts as ‘not hurting’ to you?”

“I didn’t set it off!”

Lalna could almost see Rythian’s jaw working beneath his mask.

“I am _not_ getting into a petty fight over this, _again_.” He turned on his heel and looked down at Lalna out if the corner of his eye. Lalna shivered and tried to look anywhere but at the eyes on his cloak. “I should have just left you there to rot, if this as all you have to offer. Useless.”

“B-but you’ll still go, right?”

“Do I have much choice?”

And then he was off, seamlessly melding back into the crowd. Lalna swallowed hard and looked back down at his half-empty pack. He attempted in vain to loosen some of the tension in his shoulders, and continued packing.

 ----

“You look ruffled.” Zoeya observed. Rythian stalked past her and began gathering up his rolls of parchment.

“Lalna is an idiot.” He grumbled, stuffing a book into his bag. “He has no idea how dangerous the End is and he wants us to go there and just _make something up!_ ”

“Surely they’ll listen to reason...”

“Not unless they get something from it.” Rythian’s tone was dark. “And unless we’re really convincing we won’t make it out alive.”

He continued grumbling under his breath as he collected the last of his research into a bag that was far too small to have possibly held it all. Zoeya rubbed awkwardly at the cold metal of her mechanical arm.

“I’m _sure_ they’ll listen…” She said, sounding thoroughly _un_ sure.

“I thank you for your optimism, Zoeya, but I honestly don’t think they will.” He focused on affixing his pack to his belt. “The End is so detached from the Overworld, maybe even the whole of Minecraftia. They don’t care what happens to us.”

Zoeya bit her lip and increased the grip she had on her arm. Fresh worries blossomed in her head and filled it up to the point where she only realised that Rythian had been speaking when he finished.

“What was that?”

“I said, have you managed to procure some supplies?”

Zoeya nodded absently. “Tees got ‘em. We didn’t manage to get much though, I’m not sure if it’ll be enough for all three of us.”

Rythian adopted a look that Zoeya knew boded ill and looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, about that… I don’t think you two should come with me. The End is dangerous for strangers I… Don’t want you getting hurt or - or worse.”

Zoeya blinked at him uncomprehendingly. “But… We’ve gotta go together. What if something happens to you and we’re not around to help?”

“I’ve managed fine on my own before.”

“You’re being silly. I know you wanna be all heroic and stuff, but we’re stronger together.” She stepped forward and placed her organic hand on Rythian’s arm. “You can’t go alone.”

“I… Just don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“And _I_ don’t want anything to happen to _you._ What if you go off to the End and never come back?”

Zoeya could almost _see_ Rythian’s lip wobbling. Then, after a moment that seemed too long to have been mere seconds, his eyes crinkled with a smile.

“I guess I am being silly.”

“That’s the spirit!” Zoeya gave him a pat on the arm. “Now let’s go get Tee, shall we?”

Rythian chuckled. “I’m sure he’ll be happy to finally get going.”

 ----

By some miracle, Lalna made it to the door before he was interrupted again. He froze, one hand resting against its thick metal edge.

“If I didn’t know you were a genius, I would have thought you were the stupidest man alive.” Xephos said. His sword was drawn, tip down, and he was leaning against it casually, one elbow resting atop its pommel.

“Don’t try to stop me.” Lalna warned.

Xephos raised a perfectly groomed eyebrow. “Oh I’m not trying to stop you. Quite the opposite, in fact. I’m coming with you.” He motioned to the whole of the warehouse. “Since you’re so adamant to go alone, despite the amount of help so readily available to you.”

Lalna slowly processed this new information. “You’re… coming with me?”

“ _Yes_ , idiot.”

“You’re not trying to stop me?” Lalna narrowed his eyes. Xephos let out an exasperated growl and stalked towards him. Lalna reached for his own blade, startled, but Xephos merely stalked straight past and disappeared out the door.

“Thank the gods you’re useful…” Lalna heard him mutter.

“Wait, wait, waitwaitwaitwaitwait!” Lalna rushed to catch up. Xephos was waiting for him by the road, tapping his foot impatiently.

“Time’s wasting.” He said.

“Wait, I thought you said that I’d die if I went out into the Flux, that there’s nothing there? Why are you suddenly on board with this?”

“Yes, I did didn’t I?” Xephos rolled his eyes. “Believe it or not, Lalna, I do, actually, think you’re of some value to this operation. I’d hate to lose that.”

“But- but-”

“Get going, Lalna.”

Xephos shot him a diamond-hard glare, and Lalna’s feet obeyed without properly contacting his brain. He stumbled along for a good while before finding his footing. He did not ask more questions, for there was something dark about the way Xephos spoke to him that sent tiny shivers down his spine and demanded obedience.

They reached the ruins of the camp by midday. It was nothing more than a cluster of indigo-crusted lumps and soot-stained rubble. The fires had all died out, leaving only black marks and scorched remains in their wake. The Flux had spread far past the ruins themselves, and was making disturbingly fast headway towards Becropolis. However, there were few monsters around to impede their progress as they entered the ruins, which Lalna found exceedingly suspicious. Just in case, they kept low to the grass and darted from cover to cover as they advanced inside.

“See? What did I tell you Lalna? There’s _nothing_ here.” Xephos whispered. It was intriguing how quickly he had gone from faintly annoyed to downright terrified.

“We’ve not seen much yet. C’mon, my tent was just over there…”

They crossed over to where a large portion of the wall had toppled, relatively intact, forming a large shield. Xephos stumbled slightly, and Lalna had to grab his arm and pull him behind the shield, where they then stood with their backs to the wall, waiting to see if anything had caught sight of them.

Lalna was not sure if he had ever seen Xephos so distressed. He had his sword drawn, again, and was holding it across his chest with a white-knuckled grip. He looked visibly tense, to the point that it was hard to tell that he was even breathing at all.

“There’s one of those _things_ around here…” Lalna caught him whisper.

“What things?”

Xephos didn’t answer. He sidled over to the edge of the wall and peered out. After a few seconds, he drew quickly back in and scooted a good metre away from the edge.

“The things that came to destroy the camp in the first place. Horrible magical monstrosities. You can’t-” Xephos cut himself off, wetting his lips nervously. His hand flew to a spot just to the right of his heart, but he didn’t seem to notice. “-You can’t fight them.”

“And there’s one out there? Right now?” Lalna asked. Xephos’ expression was the only answer he gave.

Lalna risked a peek himself, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Xephos looked scared out of his skin, however, so Lalna decided to take him by his word and _not_ go rushing out towards the melted lump of his tent which was _right there_.

A yowl cut through the air, a sound so innocent and scared that both Lalna and Xephos were, whether they liked it or not, peeking over the top of the wall within seconds. A small tabby cat was tearing full speed down the ruined remains of the path, its fur mangy and its eyes wild, being chased by one of the most horrifying monstrosities Lalna had ever seen; and Lalna had seen quite a lot of horrifying monstrosities. It had eyes only for the cat, and thankfully did not notice the two intruders as it raced past in great lumbering gallops.

Just as they thought the monstrosity would catch its prey, an entirely different screech pierced the air. It was a howl of pure rage that somehow managed to be a sob, wail and scream at the same time. It shot spikes through Lalna’s chest and would have sent him ducking for cover had he not been so enraptured by the scene unfurling before him.

Something huge, black and unmistakably feline leapt clear over one of the melted tents and slammed full-force into the monstrosity. Sharp white claws glinted in the sun as it tore at the monstrosity, ripping it to shreds, tearing off limbs and chunks of tainted flesh with great gouts of violet ichor that soaked through its fur. Within minutes the monstrosity was nothing more than an unidentifiable puddle of extremities.

Its flank still heaving with rage, the creature turned to where the tabby was cowering between two large boulders. For one long, terrible second Lalna thought it would attack the cat too, but to his relief it merely settled down on its haunches, seeming to deflate a little. Lalna could just barely hear it purring. The tabby wriggled out from between its rocks and came sauntering over to the creature, its tail held high.

“Fascinating…” Xephos breathed. He had been watching the entire affair with clinical curiosity. There was still an undertone of fear that lingered behind his eyes, but it had been overpowered by something frightening, something _greedy_. “Do you think we can catch it somehow? Take it back with us?”

“I’m gonna hazard a no. It just ripped apart the thing you said can’t even be fought, I’m not going anywhere near that.” Lalna said. Xephos grumbled disappointedly.

“Yeah, fine, alright.”

While they had been speaking, the creature had gently picked the tabby up by the scruff of its neck and had turned to leave. For a split second its piercing green gaze caught on where Lalna and Xephos were hiding. They had no doubt that it had seen them, but instead of attacking like they expected it merely dropped its eyes and trotted off though a gap in the wall. If Lalna didn’t know any better, he would have described it as looking almost ashamed. The duo shifted their position to watch it trot all the way to the treeline and disappear into the yet untainted foliage beyond.

For a moment the two of them stood in silence, knowing they had to progress but being held back somehow by the scene they had just witnessed. There was something strange going on, something strang _er_ , But Lalna had yet to figure out what. He shook his head vigorously and refocused on the task at hand.

Lalna felt very vulnerable out in the open as he scuttled over to the remains of his tent. Or, at least, what he _thought_ was his tent. It was in the same location as where he remembered his tent to be, so he assumed it was his. It was just as melted as the rest, but he was unsure whether the fire or the Flux was to blame. Lalna had the niggling feeling like he was going to be attacked at any second and so hastened to crack his way inside.

With a few good stomps the roof gave way and dropped him down onto a mat of squishy tendrils. The roof had caved in, but there was room enough to stand up if he ducked. The air was stale and reeked strongly of mildew. A few of his tables and the implements thereon had survived, but the rest had been fully matted over and were unsalvageable. Brushing down his lab coat, he set to work searching the area.

He searched for at least ten minutes, but the only things Lalna managed to salvage were a few scraps of paper and a pouch of shimmerleaf that the flux had refused to touch. The rest was gone, consumed, so much of his precious research destroyed. Weighed down by dread, he folded each piece of paper neatly and slipped them, one-by-one, into his pocket. Slinging the pouch’s strap over his shoulder he set his focus to the roof. It was just barely too high for him to climb out, so he set to kicking a hole into the wall. It gave easily, and Lalna scrambled out. Xephos noticed him leave, and quickly spun to hide something behind his back.

“What was that?” Lalna asked, trotting over to him with his eyes narrowed.

“Nothing!” Xephos answered quickly, turning to face Lalna whenever he attempted to peek around him.

“Xeph, if that’s anything dangerous we _can’t_ bring it back to the warehouse.”

“It’s not. It’s really not, I promise.”

“Okay then…” With the briefest of sceptical expressions Lalna adjusted the strap over his shoulder.

“Did you find anything?” Xephos asked.

“Not much… I found a few notes but it’s not enough to get me back on track where I left off…” He sighed. “And to think, if I was here during the attack I might have been able to save some…”

“Lalna, if you were here during the attack you would be _dead._ ” Again, Xephos didn’t seem to notice his free hand straying to his chest.

“ _You_ don’t know that! You sent me off to look for Lalnable! What are you even doing with him?”

“That is none of your business.”

“Considering he’s a clone of me, I’d say it _is_ my business.”

“Stay _out_ of it, Lalna.” The dark tone had returned to Xephos’ voice, and his light blue eyes glowed even in the stark daylight. Lalna refused to let the subject go without voicing his displeasure, which he did though a grumble as he surveyed the ruins. It was as quiet as ever.

“Fine, alright, I’ll stop asking.” He muttered. “Let’s just go.”

 ----

They made it halfway to the warehouse before Lalna’s curiosity got the better of him.

“So, really, what _was_ that?”

“Hmm?”

“That thing you’re hiding, what is it?”

“Really, nothing.”

“If it was nothing you wouldn’t be hiding it.” Lalna pointed out. Xephos seemed to forget how to walk, and stopped with a stumble.

“It’s really nothing, not- It’s not important-”

Lalna stared at him intently until he cracked. Sheepishly, Xephos drew the object out from underneath his coat. It was, to Lalna’s surprise, a one-handed battle-axe, made of diamond, and looked to be rather old. It was covered in decorative writing, but in a language Lalna did not know.

“What- why did you take _that?_ ” He asked.

“It- it’s Honeydew’s. He must have lost it and I thought, maybe, he might… Like it if I brought it back? Or- to have it again or-” Xephos faltered at the expression on Lalna’s face. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Lalna looked away with a smile. “Just being a good friend I’m sure.”

“ _Exactly._ ” Xephos said, blushing faintly as he re-hid the axe beneath his coat.

Soon enough, the walls of Becropolis were sliding into view over the horizon. The two of them entered the familiar cavern of the warehouse to find it in utter disarray. Boxes were being lifted to and from trucks and people were rushing around in a semi-panicked haze. The tang of sweat and oil hung heavy in the air.

Lalna turned to ask Xephos what in the world he was planning, but found that he had disappeared. Lalna made a half-hearted attempt to look for him, gave up, and settled into finding himself the quietist, most out-of-the-way spot to set up his lab.

 ----

It took twenty-four hours for the supply transfer to settle down, for the occupants of the warehouse to fall back into their usual, tense cycle; for Lalna to claim his workspace in its entirety and for Xephos to find a sufficient spot from which to file his paperwork and keep everything up to date.

The warehouse floor was, at the moment, mostly devoid of people; so, naturally, the cry had nothing to impede it and echoed in the emptious spaces above.

“ **Nilesy!** ”

Curious, Xephos turned in time to see Lomadia swoop down from above and land heavily before the figure at the gates. Even from where he was a good distance away, Xephos could still hear Nilesy’s nervous laugh. Despite himself, he scooted a little closer.

“Where the hell have you _been?_ I’ve looked _everywhere_ for you!” Lomadia was saying.

“Oh, just looking for ol’ Mr. Cat here. I knew the little bastard was alright, he’s too clever to go down so easy. Aren’t you? Who’s a handsome little devil, yeah, you are.” Nilesy said, quickly becoming preoccupied with cooing at the mangy tabby in his arms while Lomadia looked at him in disbelief.

“You went out there in the _Flux_ to look for him?” She said incredulously.

“I, er, I might have…”

Lomadia made silent motions of distress before ruffling her feathers and crossing her arms.

“Well, I’m glad you’re alright…” She said gruffly. “But that was foolish. You could have _died_. Look at you, you need a _bath._ ”

And he did, really, need a bath. His clothes were filthy, torn in places and splattered with mud. His thick raven hair was a mess of tangles and one of the lenses in his glasses was shattered.

“Well, yeah ok.” He admitted. “We both do…”

Mr. Cat dug his claws into Nilesy’s arm and yowled, and Xephos got the strange feeling like he had perfectly understood what Nilesy had said.

“What happy little reunion.”

Xephos leapt a foot into the air and almost fell over where he landed. Honeydew was looking up at him with some amusement.

“Don’t _do_ that!” Xephos huffed.

“Do what?” Honeydew asked innocently.

“Sneak up on me like that!”

“Who’s sneakin’? I just walked up to you and you didn’t notice.”

“That... counts too!” Xephos’ heart was still racing and didn’t seem to have any intention of slowing down.

“Does it? That’s new.”

Xephos blustered for a few moments before regaining enough composure to ask, “Do you need something?”

“Need? Nah, I don’t need nothin’. I _wanted_ to see how you were doing, since you’ve not come to talk for a couple days now.” Honeydew glared at him accusingly. “You’ve not gotten wrapped back up in all that bollocks again, have you?”

“I- I-” Xephos attempted, then realised that he had, indeed, gotten wrapped back up, and immediately felt bad about it beyond the dam of his fatigue.

“’Cause it’s really not good for you.” Honeydew continued. “And, hell, I’m gettin’ worried again.”

“It’s not like I can just- There’s so much more going on and it demands my attention.” Xephos insisted. For a moment he considered sharing the reports he had heard of the status of the northern front, and how it was a mere mile away from the border of Becropolis, but decided that it would just add more complications to the conversation and held his tongue.

“Maybe, but I’m afraid you’ll stop trying.”

“I won’t.”

“You promise that?”

Xephos paused for a moment. “Okay, friend, I promise.”

“Good!” Honeydew gave him a light punch on the arm. As gentle as it was, it still made Xephos sway on the spot. “So d’you want something to eat? You look like you could use a bite.”

“I can’t, I’ve got-” Xephos peered around at the near empty interior, “Stuff to do…”

“Do you?” Honeydew’s fingers curled around his hand, and he felt like all the air had been knocked straight out of him. “’Cause it looks like they’re doing fine without you. Surely they’ll continue to be for a few more hours.”

Xephos felt a terrible flush rising to his cheeks and he _hated_ it. “A-are you trying to ask me out or something?”

Honeydew considered this. “If it’ll get you outta here? Yeah, sure, let’s say I am.”

“Okay.” Xephos said - which was funny because he definitely did not recall authorising it. He looked away to hide how blue his face had become. Mercifully, Honeydew released his hand and, starting forward, motioned for him to follow.

“C’mon then. I’ve been wandering around, see, and I think I’ve found somewhere good we can go.”

Xephos trotted after him, not entirely worry-free but content enough to ignore it for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The cat lives, everyone, the cat lives. I'm not that heartless.


	10. Darkened Tower

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many things in the End are backwards.

Teep enjoyed observing things. He enjoyed observing things, and fancied himself as quite good at it. It was his job, after all.

For example, at the moment he observed Rythian and Zoeya as they trudged ahead of him. He observed the strange little eyeball-like crystal Rythian was holding out in front of him. Observed that it was not as much being controlled by him, but rather he was being led by it. Observed the small, tuberous flowers among the grass and the drooping purple leaves swaying on tainted branches.

Observed that the steep slope of the hill they were climbing was making his feet hurt.

It didn’t help that Teep had been assigned to carry most of their supplies. Usually, he didn’t mind; it made it easier for him to sneak snacks when his comrades weren’t looking, but when he had to lug it up hill after hill he found himself becoming quite resentful.

Rythian stopped abruptly at the top of the hill. The crystal in his hands had swivelled so that it’s ‘eye’ was pointing downwards. He said something to Zoeya, but Teep was too far behind to hear. He trundled up the rest of the way as quick as his aching feet would allow.

“The forest?” Zoeya was saying. “Surely there’re loads of baddies in there…”

“Strongholds only ever have one entrance. They’re designed to be as hard to penetrate as possible, so really we have no choice.”

“O-okay. But one of us should scout ahead. Just, y’know, to make sure and stuff. Tee?-”

“No.”

Teep paused with his arm halfway to his bow.

“Tee’s got enough on his plate as-is.” Rythian continued. “I’ll go.”

Teep withdrew his arm. He was both annoyed that he didn’t get to sneak the first look, and touched by Rythian’s show of consideration. He adjusted the packs on his back and watched as Rythian slipped ghost-like into the dripping purple underbrush and disappeared. He and Zoeya waited fretfully for him to return.

Eventually, Rythian returned. Teep observed that he had an air of someone who had gone three days without sleeping and was trying not to show it.

“They’ve put up some heavy wards. I could only just barely breach them, but I know how they work now so it shouldn’t be a problem.” Rythian explained. “It looks like they’ve set up a field to keep the Flux away from the stronghold, and it’s definitely working,” he beckoned to them with one hand, “come, if you stay quiet and let me do the talking we should be fine…”

“Talking?” Zoeya whispered to Teep as they followed Rythian into the forest. Teep shrugged like he always did.

When they crossed the edge of the warded area, Teep could _feel_ it. It wasn’t just the absence of the muddy squelch beneath his feet, and the fresh scent of grass and foliage, but the raw _tingle_ in his bones and the invisible nip of lightning as it hopped between his scales. He shook himself snout-to-tail and continued on as if it didn’t feel like his teeth were about to fall out.

The entrance to the stronghold was… less impressive than Teep had expected. He was hoping for a grand archway to an ancient tomb or an imposing portcullis or _something_. Instead, he was presented with a small, brick-lined hole in the ground guarded by a single, hunched figure. The figure was most definitely an Enderman, judging by its long, blackened limbs, sharp claws and narrow purple eyes that glinted in the sunlight. Teep expected it to attack, but it merely stared at them tiredly.

Rythian raised a hand. “Liah, ew hsiw na ecneidua htiw reh Ssenhgih Etherthartalei. Yam ew deecorp?”

Whatever he had said, it seemed to register with the Enderman. It looked up, and then shook its head slowly.

“Reh Ssenhgih si ni a dab doom htiw lla eht skcatta. I dluow ton dnemmocre ti.”

“Siht si tnegru.”

“I dnatsrednu taht, tub I evah ym sredro…” The Enderman studied Rythian intently. “Uoy era na Nrobredne?”

“I ma.” Rythian nodded. The Enderman looked down at its toes, and stayed that way for nearly a minute.

“I esoppus I tonnac yned uoy neht. I ma ton a rethgif, dna ruoy yhtlif ngierof sdneirf era ton sa emoclew sa uoy. Ti yam tsoc em ym niks, tub uoy yam eunitnoc.” With that, the Enderman hopped aside, landing perched atop a small stone wall that served as the entrance’s only decoration. Rythian bowed and made a rushed ‘follow me’ motion to Zoeya and Teep, who followed, bewildered, as he briskly brushed past and descended the steps.

The steps were rough and short, and hewn from solid stone. Teep nearly tripped and tumbled down, but managed to regain his footing with the help of the rugged brick wall. The sunlight faded all too quickly, leaving them to navigate by the light of sparse, flickering torches topped with eerie purple flames.

“There should be more guards. Something is going on here…” Rythian said in a low whisper. His voice echoed in the barren corridor.

“What did you say to it?” Zoeya asked, quickening her pace to catch up and fall into stride beside him. Teep continued in his slow trundle behind them as they talked.

“I told him that we need to speak to the queen. He said he couldn’t deny me, and that you are not welcome.”

“ _We’re_ not welcome? Like, me and Tee? What about you?”

Rythian grunted and looked straight ahead pointedly. Zoeya looked like she was about to push the subject, but decided against it and made the briefest of disapproving faces before dropping it with a huff.

They rounded a corner to find themselves in a large, open room. It was filled with a biting cold despite the two large, bubbling pools of lava on either side. The light from the pools did not reach the end of the room, and left it shrouded in darkness. Straight ahead of them sat a short flight of stairs, stone like the rest, ending abruptly at a ring of strange white stone. Atop the ring, positioned equidistant from each other, were twelve glowing green eyes. Teep couldn’t see from the angle he was at, but judging by how they swivelled manically in their sockets, and by the amount of thick black smoke that poured from the ring, he determined that the portal was already active.

Rythian ascended the steps and walked toward the portal as if it were a coffin. Zoeya joined him, and Teep inched as close as he could without knocking them both in.

“Well, shall we?” Zoeya said. In answer, Rythian bowed his head, closed his eyes, and stepped over the rim unflinchingly. The portal swallowed him whole into its depths without as much as a ripple.

Zoeya bit her lip and bounced between her feet. Teep shuffled up to where Rythian once stood and placed a tiny clawed hand on her arm in an attempt to show his support. He gave her shoulder a gentle nudge with his snout.

_Go on_ , He thought, _I’ll be right behind you._

“Right, OK, OK…” Zoeya said determinedly. She cracked her knuckles, took one step forward and dove cannonball-style into the portal. And then she was gone, and Teep was alone.

Looking properly at the portal himself, he could understand her trepidation. It was a pure, unreflective black that seemed to suck all the heat from the room, and millions of tiny, white stars twinkled up at him the lightless depths within. The smoke that had been lazily flowing from its frame was now curling around Teep’s feet in an encouraging manner.

Hitting the surface of the portal was like diving headfirst into frigid water. It knocked all thought from his mind and filled him up with an aching, endless cold. At that moment, nothing existed. There was no time to track, no matter nor energy, no heat or thought. No life.

And then he slammed belly-first into a plateau of unrelenting obsidian.

Teep opened his eyes to see Zoeya standing unsteadily near the edge, looking worriedly over to where Rythian was kneeling. He seemed to be in a lot of pain, judging by the way he was bent in on himself.

“Good, Tee, you’re here.” He gasped. His eyes were glowing brighter than Teep had ever seen them before. “You two need to go now. Follow the pillars, you’ll see- see it soon.”

“Are you OK?” Zoeya asked, taking a tentative step forward.

“Don’t come any closer.” Rythian warned. “You need to run, go, both of you. _Now._ ”

“What-”

Teep grabbed Zoeya’s arm and tugged her after him. He knew to trust Rythian when he gave such orders, and that Zoeya would be too preoccupied with Rythian’s well-being to take his warning as seriously as she should.

Zoeya only half-heartedly fought him as Teep dragged her up the hill and out of the obsidian pit. She stopped struggling entirely when they reached the top. Before them they could make out a long, winding trail formed of packed-down endstone and, off in the distance, a flag-topped pillar. Teep set off down the path at a quick trot. Zoeya followed, looking almost entirely over her shoulder.

They had made it almost to the first pillar before an explosion nearly knocked them from their feet. They looked back to find that the pit had become a mass of roiling purple flames. Something stirred within, extending twitching, void-black wings and long thin limbs. It clawed its way from the pit clumsily, swaying on its feet.

And then it looked up.

Teep could feel its featureless violet gaze pierce straight through him, weary and familiar. After an age it looked to Zoeya and did the same for her. Then, with one powerful wingbeat, the dragon launched itself into the air, scattering dust and cinders with its claws. Zoeya and Teep ducked reflexively as it soared over their heads with a great rush of air. Teep looked past it as it flew away, following its trajectory. There, far, far in the distance, he could see the ragged shape of a castle shrouded by mist. It was stretched obnoxiously tall and lit with hundreds of tiny lights that twinkled like stars.

Teep started forward again. He did not understand what had happened, and was not going to pretend to. He heard Zoeya whimper “Rythian…?” but did not look back. A few moments later he heard the click of boots against stone as she rushed to catch up.

 ----

An eternity later, they reached the edge of the island. The rugged endstone landscape simply stopped, ending at a sheer drop into the endless void below. Before them towered the great spires of the castle, standing separate on its own little island. It was joined to the main landmass by a solid obsidian bridge that was just barely too large for comfort. Standing close as he was, Teep could not see the top of the castle. He contemplated sitting down to give his neck the needed flexibility, but decided that it was too silly of an idea.

Teep felt very small as they continued forward. The decorative archways that spanned the edge of the bridge rose up on both sides, dark and imposing, and made him feel small and trapped. Every now and then he caught a glimpse of violet eyes watching them from the shadows.

The entrance to the castle itself was like the gaping maw of an abyssal beast, rising so high that they might have been ants beneath its jaws. Teep’s claws clicked on the smooth floor as he and Zoeya advanced cautiously inside. It had only just occurred to Teep that he had no idea what to do from here. He was so set on following Rythian’s orders that he didn’t stop to think.

“You have made it.”

The voice echoed out from the shadows, weary and deep. It was terribly warped and held a faint hiss, but Teep could still recognise it. Two blazing violet eyes opened in the darkness, and he got the distinct feeling like something was _unfurling_ within its depths. The head and neck of a dragon poked into the beam of light from the entranceway. A few seconds later, a claw inched forward to join it.

“I am glad.”

“Rythian?” Zoeya’s hand had paused on the hilt of her sword. Teep detected the fear in her expression, but it was accompanied by something he could not identify. The dragon bowed its head, and Teep could see the light catch on the scars across its muzzle.

“I am sorry. I was weak.”

Zoeya jogged forward and reached up to take the end of Rythian’s snout in her hands.

“No need to be sorry, you don’t always have to be strong.” She said.

“I do with this.”

Zoeya withdrew her hands and shrugged. “You didn’t hurt us, I don’t see a problem.”

“I was… dishonest.”

Another shrug. “Ah well we all make mistakes. I don’t blame you. Now c’mon, we’ve got a queen to meet.”

“Allow me to help with that.”

Rythian bent down low enough for Zoeya and Teep to, after a moment’s hesitation, clamber onto his neck. Teep wouldn’t go so far as to say his scales were _cold_ , but they weren’t as warm as they should have been. He dug his claws in reflexively as Rythian straightened up, and then further attached himself as he began to rush deeper into the castle at a hopping gallop. The light from outside faded quickly, leaving them in darkness so complete that Teep couldn’t even see the snout on his own face.

The wind rushed past as Rythian sped up. Suddenly they were airborne, his wings beating a steady rhythm as they shot through the lightless corridors. Teep could see the violet blur of eyes watching them from the darkness, and hear a chorus of steady hisses and unearthly screeches that echoed around them.

Then they were out. Teep closed his eyes against the sudden light sending daggers against them. When he opened them again, he could see that they had entered a huge, circular shaft that ran up and up and up. Its smooth, black sides were speckled with ghostly purple lights and clusters of Endermen perched along jagged outcroppings. Rythian, unfazed, entered a near vertical ascent.

“Hold on back there.” He said, his voice ripped away immediately by the rushing air. “We’ll be exiting soon.”

Teep clung to one of the spines along Rythian’s neck for dear life, and saw Zoeya do the same. The packs on his back came very close to slipping off, but thankfully they levelled off before that could happen.

Rythian landed neatly on a large, ornate ledge quite opposite to those the Endermen had been perched on. It was lit by braziers of the same vibrant purple flame and ended in another tall corridor. Banners were affixed to the wall on either side, the tops of which were already collecting yet more Endermen. They had amassed quite a large audience by the time Zoeya and Teep managed to dismount.

“Walk beneath me.” Rythian ordered quietly. “Don’t worry, I won’t step on you.”

Teep and Zoeya did as they were told and together the three of them advanced into the corridor. It ended quickly, and they found themselves in an incredibly tall room - and Teep could soon see why.

They walked along a plush, night-black carpet. Teep risked a peek out and saw, to his shock, that the room was full of dragons. They were much bigger than Rythian, and lounged sleepily across nearly every surface that was not the main carpet. Some of them turned their heads as the group passed. The largest of the dragons was nearly ten times Rythian’s size and slept curled among a pile of seemingly random junk; planks of wood, old furniture and bits of stone and grass, among other things.

“Ew kees ecneidua!” Rythian bellowed. The dragons shuffled angrily, and the largest raised its head. Its stare was one of sharp disapproval that seemed to bypass Rythian almost entirely and bore into the entire area around where Teep and Zoeya were standing.

“Intruders.” The largest said, surprisingly, in Common. “You speak in our tongue but you have brought outsiders into my halls. What right, _renegade_ , what right do you have to dirty our lands with this _filth!?_ ”

“We seek help, my queen.” Rythian stated. The Queen’s wings brushed the edges of the room as she flared them in anger.

“Do not attempt to fool me, you show no loyalty!” She leered down at them and bared gargantuan fangs. “I am generous enough to allow you to stay untouched, to dirty my tongue with your outlandish words. You have no right to even _suggest_ my help!”

“Yet, we must. This is not for us, your highness. This is for the safety of the Overworld.”

The room exploded into noise. The dragons stirred and growled and the audience of curious Endermen scratched their claws and shrieked a chorus of “Not worthy, not worthy!”

“ **Silence!** ” The Queen bellowed. The noise cut off abruptly. She waited until her subjects had settled before continuing. “You seem to be under the impression that I care about what happens to the Plainslands.”

“It is an integral part of the system. If it were to fall it would cause chaos even here.” Rythian reasoned.

“You make a reasonable point, but I am not inclined to listen until you prove that you are worthy of my attention.” The Queen tilted her head away and regarded them through one eye. “ **C’chelthnda!** ”

A large, purple dragon detached itself from a roost near the ceiling and spiralled down to land by the Queen’s side.

“Sey, ym Neeuq?” It said.

“Ekat eseht sredurtni ot eht anera. Od ton gnirb meht kcab.” The Queen ordered, and then turned to Rythian. “Take your filth to the top of the tower. If you survive I may just listen. Now go, get out of my sight!”

“If you survive?” Zoeya whispered to Teep, who matched her look of worry almost exactly.

Their escort, C’chelthnda, circled around them, dark obsidian scales rippling in the firelight and eyes narrowed with disgusted scrutiny.

“Gnippir ruoy taorht tuo lliw eb a erusaelp, _tnur._ ” She sneered at Rythian. “Wollof em ylesolc.”

Rythian bent his head nearly to the floor and whispered to Zoeya and Teep as she stalked away.

“Climb onto my back and hold on. This trip will be long.” He said.

Desperate not to inconvenience him for too long, they climbed up his neck and settled down just in front of where his wings met his spine. Rythian straightened up, turned, and galloped back down the hall. Their escort launched herself into the air when she was sure they were following, and Rythian followed suit. Zoeya and Teep once again clung tightly to his spines, but thankfully there was less of a danger of falling from their new position; Teep dreaded to think about what they would look like upon hitting the ground.

 ----

The air at the top of the tower was thin and reeked strongly of ash and blood. They shot out of the main shaft and levelled off in view of a large, round arena. Instead of seats around the edge, it had one flat plane upon which many dragons and Endermen were perched, contently watching the fights below and conversing in their alien tongue. There were several decorative spikes positioned at equidistant intervals around the outer edge, towering high and topped with rugged purple flags. Their escort guided them down to a free spot.

“I evah neeb deredro ot llik uoy.” She said. Rythian said nothing. He simply stared at her until Zoeya and Teep were safely off of his back. Teep swayed slightly on the spot; he really, really hated heights.

“I draeh.” Rythian said coolly. “Dna I dnetni ot ekam siht a riaf thgif, sa gnol sa uoy od ton truh ym sdneirf.”

“I thgim ekat a wef stohs.” C’chelthnda sneered.

With a growl Rythian leapt and slammed into her, knocking them both into the pit of the arena and out of sight.  Zoeya and Teep raced over to the edge and, leaning over the short protective barrier, peered down. Teep had his bow drawn and an arrow notched within seconds, and he held his position as he watched the two dragons tear viciously at each other far below.

Rythian masterfully slashed and bit and dodged and weaved, but even then his opponent had him matched and was gaining the upper hand. Their roaring had attracted the attention of many of the arena’s other occupants, and they watched just as raptly as Teep was.

Rythian had attached himself to his opponent’s back and was ripping at her neck with his claws. C’chelthnda rolled onto her back to dislodge him and, being the bigger dragon, managed to do so. She leapt at him and sunk her teeth into his neck. Rythian used his position on his back to rake deep gouges across her belly with his hind claws. C’chelthnda roared in pain and released him, propelling herself away and into the air with wingbeats that whipped the sand.

Rythian rolled to his feet and launched himself up at her. For an eternity they grappled in the air, viciously tearing at each other, while the growing crowd watched from far below. Teep had to squint to see any details, and his claws shook where he had them clenched around his bow. Zoeya’s grip looked like it could shatter obsidian.

High in the air, C’chelthnda was repeatedly slamming Rythian against one of the decorative pillars. He was scratching at her feebly, but his attacks were clumsy. He seemed too dazed to fight back when she grabbed him and swung him in an arc. He collided with the pillar with a gut-wrenching ‘ _crack_ ’ and fell limp. C’chelthnda carried him over to the very centre of the arena and, with haughty finality, dropped him.

Zoeya and Teep watched him fall helplessly. He collided with the ground with an audible ‘ _thump_ ’ and skid that sent up great plumes of sand. They watched, and the seconds ticked by, but he simply laid there, unmoving.


	11. Vengeance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter contains some slightly disturbing imagery. It's not that bad, and it doesn't last very long, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

For a moment everything was still.  C’chelthnda alighted next to Rythian’s prone form and towered over him smugly, or as smug as a dragon could be. The crowd screeched and roared, but at the same time they made no sound.

The air around Zoeya’s hands was beginning to sizzle.

The arena had no stairs, but it did not matter. Suddenly she was standing at the base of the wall. Lashing tendrils of flame formed wings that sizzled and crackled against her back. She knew that she should be feeling a multitude of things right now, but somehow she could only feel numb; that, and raw, boiling _rage_.

C’chelthnda was not expecting it. She was still standing over Rythian, apparently enjoying the praise she was receiving. It was wrong and disgusting and how dare she, how _dare_ she-

A wave of flame impacted the entirety of C’chelthnda’s side. The dragon was swept off her feet and rammed hard against the unrelenting arena wall. Injured as she was, she could not fly to escape, nor could she push against the waves driving viciously against her. She simply flailed, flapping her wings uselessly and roaring in pain as the flames ate away her scales and cooked her flesh.

Eventually, C’chelthnda’s roars became whines then whimpers then silence. And still, Zoeya did not relent. She threw lash after lash of flame fuelled by loosely-controlled magic and the force of a rage that would not subside. Zoeya only stopped when she had no more energy left. Digging superheated nails into her side, she gazed numbly upon her work.

The thing that was once C’chelthnda sat smouldering at the base of the wall, now nothing more than a pile of simmering sludge and jet-black bones. The sand around the area had melted and partially encased the grisly sight in glass. Still, Zoeya only partially felt like justice had been served.

The crowd had gone utterly silent, and Zoeya was subjected to a barrage of wide, fearful gazes as she slowly turned and walked over to where Rythian lay. His eyes were closed, and he had not moved. She placed a hand on his snout.

“Rythian…? Rythian, please wake up.” Tears were beginning to cloud her eyes, her rage seeping away to leave behind bitter dregs.  “Rythian, Ryth you can’t leave like this, _please_ -”

Zoeya’s hand slid from his snout and she cradled herself, sniffling. It was futile; she could clearly see where his neck was bent sharply, and where the sand beneath him was soaked with bright purple blood.

“Please, I killed her for you. Please come back.” Zoeya whimpered.

And she had. Rythian’s killer lay lifeless and unrecognisable, and a part of her argued that it was justified, and yet it was still murder. Zoeya felt slightly sick thinking about it, but it was better than thinking about Rythian.

“Excellent, encore!”

Zoeya jerked. The arena had gained one more occupant. She had arrived silently, which was shocking for such a big creature, and was lying draped across almost half of the arena’s stands, one of her front limbs dangling lazily to brush the sand.

“I was not going to watch, but how could I miss such a delightful series of events?” The Queen said, her thunderous voice echoing loud and commanding across the wide expanse.

  1. Zoeya could feel her anger kindling again.



“He was weaker than I expected, but I guess that happens when you resist like he did,” The Queen's snout parted in a snarl, “Useless thing!” She turned to Zoeya, “But you, you are surprisingly strong, Twilit. I might just keep you; see if you can match my other fighters…”

Zoeya gave her eyes a few hard blinks to clear them of tears and looked, properly _looked_ , up at the Queen- and froze instantly. She had Teep clamped between two gargantuan claws. He squirmed silently, but made little headway against a vice three times his size. Zoeya could feel her fear twisting sharply in her gut.

“But I suppose I should listen to you first, even though he technically failed…” The Queen was drawling. “But I cannot deny that I am impressed. C’chelthnda was a strong general indeed.”

“What are you doing with him?” Zoeya asked with more fear than she intended to show. Her voice came out louder than usual without any ender-chatter to impede it.

“This _thing?_ ” The Queen rolled Teep around in her claws and gave him a squeeze like a curious infant. His eyes bugged out and he redoubled his struggling. “Nothing.”

She placed Teep on the ground and released him, and he lay there, gasping.

“Although I may consider it if you do not explain your ‘situation’ quickly.”

“O-okay!” Zoeya blurted out. Not Teep, she couldn’t bear to lose Teep too. “But not here, I can’t talk here.”

“Are you _asking_ things of me, _outsider?_ ”

“Yes.” Zoeya swallowed the grief attempting to bubble its way up her throat, and said more loudly, “Yes, I am!”

“Some nerve.” The Queen slithered her way off of her perch. Her expansive volume filled most of the arena pit, and she loomed down at Zoeya, blocking the light from the braziers and filling her view with narrow eyes and bared fangs. Zoeya thought that perhaps she should be afraid, but was too busy stopping herself from breaking down on the spot to feel much else.

“I can respect that.” The Queen continued. “We may speak in my throne room. Since you are pathetic and wingless, I will need a volunteer to fly you down.”

She rammed her tail against the arena wall so hard that Zoeya could feel the vibrations shuddering beneath her feet. From among the now roiling crowd flew a dragon even smaller than Rythian was. It landed before the Queen and hunkered down. Zoeya waited for a few moments before realising that she was probably supposed to get on board.

Eternally grateful that she did not have to ride on the Queen herself, Zoeya clambered up the dragon’s back and settled down on its curved neck. A few seconds later, Teep fell from the sky and landed behind her, drawing a pained huff from both him and the dragon beneath them.

Then they were away, riding in the tailwind of the Queen as she soared ahead of them. Zoeya braced herself as the dragon they were riding dived down the entrance shaft and into the tunnel below. She clung to the dragon’s neck-spines a little tighter and, now that she need not fear seeing Rythian’s lifeless body out of the corner of her eye, allowed herself to cry.

 ----

It was night over Electria. In a rarely visited corner of Becropolis, a run-down warehouse stood abandoned and forgotten. Its walls were rusty and its floors cracked, the holes in its roof let moonlight spill through and pool on the floor below.

In the darkest corner of the room sat the bare shell of a nuclear missile, and atop that, Lalnable. Attached to his belt hung a sealed oil lantern, burning low, and the folded mass of his lab coat. His goggles hung around his neck, the crimson lenses of which contrasting sharply with the dark black of his shirt. At the moment, he was busy ruminating - more specifically, imagining the taste of Xephos’ flesh should the mangy rat ever set foot near him again.

It wasn’t going to work. It wasn’t going to work, and Xephos knew it. Either he was desperate or just enjoyed seeing Lalnable suffer; or perhaps both. Lalnable closed his eyes and ran a gloveless hand through his hair. He supressed a groan when he heard the grind of rusty hinges.

“Shouldn’t you be sleeping?” Lalnable said.

“Sleep is for the weak.” Xephos’ voice echoed in the barren spaces.

Lalnable looked up in time to see the patch of silvery moonlight get cut off as Xephos closed the door behind him. He heard the click of footsteps against concrete and saw Xephos stop in another pool of light. His eyes, when he opened them, glowed an intense blue that illuminated the dark circles beneath his eyes. Lalnable took careful note of the way his hands were shaking.

“Exactly. Shouldn’t you be asleep?” He said.

Xephos let out a bark of laughter. “Touché.”

For a few seconds, there was silence.

“You know this is useless, right? I don’t understand why you don’t just skip merrily back to your fucked-up lab and blow this place to smithereens from there.”

When he spoke, Xephos’ voice was monotone. “You mean, why don’t I steal a gun and put a bullet between my eyes? I won’t say I haven’t thought about it, but it would do no good. There’s no stopping this infection.”

“Might help with that withdrawal of yours.” In the moonlight, Lalnable saw Xephos’ shoulders twitch. “Oh, I forgot, I wasn’t supposed to know about that.” Lalnable leaned back. “Guess you’re going to have to kill me now.”

“We’re all going to die when the Flux reaches Becropolis. I intend to make your death the slowest.”

“Did you literally just come here to threaten me or do you actually want something?”

“Want something?” Xephos’ tail swished slowly behind him. “No, nothing physical.”

“Good, then you can get the fuck away from me, maniac.”

“That’s interesting, what you just called me, considering the things you’ve done.”

“You _made_ me do them! You showed me that it was the way I deserved to live!” Lalnable’s hands balled where they rested on the metal by his sides.

“And it is.”

“Maybe so, but at least I have the decency to admit I’m a monster, while you seem to be living in denial.”

“Everything I do, I do for science. There is nothing monstrous about that.”

“Point proven.” Lalnable shook his head. “Just go, just leave.”

Xephos’ smile was predatory. “Alright, I’ll leave, and don’t expect me to come back. Have fun starving, I know how much you hate being hungry.”

Lalnable spoke up just as his hand touched the door.

“I feel sorry for Honeydew. I wonder what it would do to him, knowing what you’re _really_ like.” Lalnable watched Xephos retract his hand and turn, excruciatingly slowly, to glare at him. “Do you still put on that pretty little mask of yours whenever you speak to him?”

“Shut up.”

“You _do_ know he really cares about you, right? He probably even loves you. Is it _fun_ for you to manipulate him like that?”

“ _Shut. **UP!**_ ”

Xephos’ shout bounced chaotically, followed shortly after by the bang of metal as he slammed the warehouse door behind him. Lalnable would not be surprised if it could be heard from more than a block away.

Lalnable took a few moments to bask in the reaction he had received, and then set to work finding a way to escape. Xephos had stated that he wasn’t coming back, so Lalnable had all the time in the world to figure out the little gadgets he had been decorated with, the ones set to fry his brainstem should he stray too far away. He had access to a plethora of tools that he was supposed to be using to build this missile, so he assumed freeing himself from Xephos’ grasp wouldn’t be _that_ hard. All he had to do was unscrew the right things and hope he didn’t die.

For some reason, that thought didn’t bother him.

 ----

Xephos stalked all the way back to the Warehouse. He slipped delicately through the maze of sleeping bodies and around the corner of a large truck. He settled down atop his pile of boxes and sat there, seething, for at least ten minutes. He attempted to focus on the reports on his clipboard, but his vision was blurry and Lalnable’s words kept repeating in his head, jabbing at him in their accusing, disgusted tone.

_-at least I have the decency to admit I’m a monster-_

_-what you’re really like-_

_-he probably even loves you-_

The hand Xephos had on his clipboard was shaking so badly that he had to put it down. He used the offending appendage to rub clumsily at his eyes.

“Are you going to actually sleep on your own sometime or am I gonna have to keep makin’ you?”

Xephos’ heart skipped a beat and his head snapped up. Honeydew was leaning against a tire and regarding him closely.

“I-” Xephos swallowed the lump in his throat. “I thought you were asleep.”

“Man, I wish.” Honeydew stumped over and hoisted himself up onto Xephos’ box, settling down beside him. “Feels like something bad’s gonna happen. I’ve been feelin’ it for days now and my dwarf senses aren’t usually wrong.”

Xephos buried his face in his hands and stayed that way for over a minute.

“Xeph… are you _sure_ you’re alright?”

“No, no I’m not!” Xephos snapped. “I feel so fucking _useless!_ ”

“You’re not alone there.”

“I _feel_ pretty alone.”

Something seemed to _snap_ , and then Honeydew was hugging him - or at least, embracing the lower half of his torso. Xephos had the sudden urge to cry, but felt like that would only end up making him feel worse.

“Go to bed, Xeph. Get some rest.” Honeydew mumbled into his coat.

“I won’t be able to sleep.” Xephos said with unwavering certainty.

“Neither will I but at least I’m gonna _try._ ”

“What’s the point in trying if you’re doomed to fail?”

“Ball of sunshine, you are. Tryin’s there so you can say you did _something_ , even if it don’t work.” He gave Xephos’ side a rub. “Now to bed with ya.”

“Who are you, my aunt?”

“I’m about to be if you don’t take _care_ of yourself.”

Honeydew took Xephos’ hand and attempted to gently lead him from his box.

“Wait! Hold on, I’m- I just- _hold on-_ ” Xephos nearly tipped off attempting to reach down. Honeydew gave him an amused look as he rummaged among the smaller crates and sheets of loose paper. His look of amusement quickly turned to shock and then glee as Xephos presented him with his old diamond axe. He snatched it and turned it around in his hands - which was a relief because Xephos would have dropped it had he held onto it for much longer.

“My axe! How did you get it?”

“I… went for a walk.” Xephos mumbled. Technically, it wasn’t a lie.

“Some walk. ‘M surprised it’s not covered in Flux.” Honeydew brushed some grit from the head and fastened his axe to the previously empty catch on his belt.

 _Look at you, you’re doing it again!_ hissed a voice inside Xephos’ head. He ignored it.

Honeydew’s fingers curled around his hand again and Xephos allowed himself to be led from his box only because the syrup in his head allowed him to do nothing else. He managed to extract his hand by the time they reached the sleeping quadrant.

“I think I can find my way to my bed now…” Xephos mumbled distractedly. Honeydew released him reluctantly and he near stumbled off through the maze of bedrolls. He found his eventually and curled up fully clothed.

Xephos pressed his palms to his cheeks and felt them douse the flames writhing just beneath. The strange feeling he kept failing to identify was back again, and with a measure of wonder he found that it no longer bothered him. For the first time in what felt like ages he allowed himself to smile, and drifted off to the chorus of a hundred disgusted voices calling him names inside his head.

 ----

The room was dark, there was nothing inside. The floors were made of smooth white tile and the walls of unblemished steel. There were no lights yet just enough light to see by. No matter how hard he tried, Xephos could not move. He was laying on the floor, on his back, his crimson coat pooling around him like liquid. He was not alone.

The figure standing over him had his face, but not his eyes, for it had no eyes. Its fingers ended in grotesque points and it was wearing a clean white lab coat. It was smiling.

It crouched over him, its claws digging bloody lines through his neck as it whispered the names of everyone whose lives he had ruined, whose dreams he had crushed. Xephos could not fight back, could do nothing but lay there numbly, but it was fine because he felt no pain, not even when his twisted doppelganger dug chunks from his chest and tore his clothes and ripped his arms to shreds. It did enough damage to be fatal, yet Xephos did not die.

And it was maddening. The creature was shrieking now, screaming every single misdeed he had ever done at him. The room was shaking, tiles falling from the roof and the floor crumbing away. Red eyes glared at him from the lightless void beyond, watching, judging him for the crimes he had committed, and Xephos wished with all his might that he could feel the pain he knew he deserved.

 ----

Xephos awoke with a start. He gasped in lungful after lungful of air, but seemed to get no oxygen from it. His face was slick with sweat and when the gasping stopped, the shivering began. From a skylight above shone a thin ray of sunlight. It filtered through the dust and grit clogging the air to warm the pillow around his hand. Everything was quiet, it was almost peaceful.

Except for the explosions.

Xephos forced his heavy, lethargic limbs into a sitting position. His heart was still racing and he could see horrible afterimages imprinted into the darkness behind his eyes. The walls shuddered in time with the distant sound of something exploding. For the first time, Xephos noticed that he was alone; every single bedroll in the quadrant was vacated. For one terrible moment he wondered if he was still dreaming.

Every atom in his body ached to go back to sleep, but Xephos forced himself to stand up. He nearly blacked out with the rush of it, but managed to wobble his way to an exit and peer out. There, standing in clusters on the grass outside and looking just as tired as he was, were the residents of the warehouse. He could see Lomadia, her wings ruffled, and Nilesy, cradling his cat. He could see the distinctive coats of the few remaining Yoglabs employees mixed in with the rabble, and they were all watching something with their necks craned back.

The cold wind numbed Xephos fingers as he, too, stared up at the Sphere. A large hatch had opened in the top and from it spewed volley after volley of missiles. They flew straight up and fell almost immediately, landing somewhere out of sight and leaving bright flashes in their wake.

Xephos couldn’t breathe. He knew what this meant; he knew what would happen next. He had heard the officials speaking of emergency measures, planning and plotting all hush-hush. If they were firing now it could only mean one thing.

Xephos sank to his knees, holding himself so tightly that his fingernails dug into his ribs. The tremors that shook the ground felt like the herald of the apocalypse. Breathlessly, he laughed. It was a rough, manic bout of sound torn from his lungs by his panic.

The Flux had reached Becropolis, and they were surely going to die within the week.


	12. A Step Back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter contains themes of suicide. Please be careful.

Lalna’s desk was a mess of papers, flowers and disassembled gadgets. A small, half-full glass of water sat near the edge, which Lalna kept moving out of paranoia that he would knock it over. His brow was furrowed so hard that it was making his head hurt, and the light from his desk lamp was sending stabs through his eyes.

Just one thing, one catalyst, and he would have done it, would have cured the Flux. But there were no convenient answers among the papers and he feared he was stuck. He had tried refining the formulas he had assembled already but the most it had done was make his arm itch a little. He needed something to make it more potent without raising the amount of Aether energy, for the alternative was far out of his reach.

Something rocked the warehouse so hard that grit fell from the roof. It shook Lalna’s very bones and in his surprise he knocked the glass of water clean from his desk. It shattered on the floor and he swore, scooting his chair backwards to stand up. Something was shaking, was it an earthquake?

Lalna pulled his goggles down over his eyes and unfurled his sleeves. Hopping around the shards of glass on the floor, he beelined for the exit. The cold wind bit into his face as he peered around. The sun was high in the sky, which was sapphire blue and free of clouds; Lalna must have been working for far longer than he thought.

He could hear loud chatter from somewhere nearby. Following the sound, he came upon large cluster of people standing around on the grass beside the Warehouse. They were all watching the Sphere as it spat out missile after missile. Lalna chewed his cheek, but was largely unconcerned; He was more worried by the wheezy, near hysterical bouts of laughter coming from somewhere to his right.

As it turned out, it was Xephos who was making the sound. He was on his knees, laughing so hard that tears were running down his cheeks. Lalna was not surprised to see Honeydew standing beside him, one hand on his shoulder. He was speaking, but whatever he was saying was having no effect whatsoever. Lalna didn’t quite want to intrude but his curiosity led him to shuffle a few steps closer.

He watched as Xephos flopped down onto his side and curled up, still laughing, and as Honeydew knelt down beside him and attempted to grasp his arm. Eventually, Lalna gave in and walked the rest of the way over.

“Is he alright?”

“Does it bloody _look_ like he’s alright t’you?” Honeydew growled, flashing Lalna the briefest of glares before turning his attention back to Xephos.

“Ok, no, not really, but is he _gonna be_ alright?”

“I’m… not sure. If you _leave_ , maybe.”

“Little more than a hint…” Lalna grumbled. He sidled around them and slipped back into the warmth of the Warehouse. He had made it nearly to his desk before he was hit by a sudden realization that sent him racing back towards the exit. He skidded to a halt beside Honeydew.

“I thought I-”

“I need to talk to you.” Lalna interrupted him urgently.

“I’m busy at the moment, could it _wait?_ ”

“No not really.”

Lalna was bouncing on his toes and Honeydew was glaring at him with barely hidden annoyance. He extracted his arm, to which Xephos was clinging tightly, and stood up.

“Yes, what?”

Lalna beckoned him inside and Honeydew followed, grumbling. Lalna stopped a few metres in and spun around.

“Your axe.”

“Beg your pardon?”

“Your axe, why was it not Fluxed? Everything else was infected, why not it?”

Honeydew shrugged. “You’re the expert, not me.”

“Yes, but you must know _something!_ ” Lalna’s hands flapped a little where they rested by his sides. “Is it magic? Is it made of a special alloy?”

Honeydew took a moment to unclip his axe from his belt and held it in both hands. “It’s just made of normal diamond. Might be enchanted though, not sure…”

“’not sure’?! It’s your axe!”

“Look, wasn’t always mine. ‘S a family relic, it’s very old. I inherited it when I was just a kid. Though they’re probably not very happy seein’ as I…” He trailed off, looking down at his reflection sadly.

“Ok but it’s enchanted, yeah? What with?”

“I said might be. Probably something to keep it from breakin’.”

“Can I… Maybe study it?”

Honeydew bristled and clutched his axe against his chest. “No!”

“Please? This could be the key to my research!”

“Look, if you want to ‘study’ its possible enchantments why don’t you go read some books or something? You ain’t getting my axe, and you ain’t studyin’ it ‘cause if you do you’re gonna wind up breakin’ it!”

“But-”

“ _No_ , Lalna.”

Lalna whimpered small noises of disappointment as Honeydew, axe still in hand, walked out and shut the door firmly behind him. However disappointed, Lalna was determined to follow this lead and decided that a trip to the library was his best option. He tucked his sleeves in a little further, checked his pockets for credits, and set off, away from the Warehouse.

The harsh wind bit into the exposed skin of his cheeks as he trudged down the road. It picked up the end of his lab coat and left it fluttering behind him as he walked. Lalna couldn’t quite remember where the closest library or library-like building was, but he assumed that if he kept walking he would find one eventually.

After just over an hour he wound up in a small, book-filled shop. It was marked as a library, but it was quite small and Lalna doubted that it contained what he needed. Who he assumed was the owner of said shop was sitting behind a desk, watching his every move. It was making Lalna nervous; there was a certain intensity in their glare that suggested he was unwelcome. He tried to ignore it, and went about his business perusing the shelves.

Lalna made it through one row before he was assaulted by the librarian, who was screaming for him to get out, calling him all sorts of foul names as they shoved him roughly towards the exit. They were only around half his size, however, and so made next to no progress in actually moving him. Lalna was concerned that he might be arrested if he stayed, and allowed himself to be kicked out.

He stood on the sidewalk, scratching his hair and staring at the door. It was pretty clear that he was not welcome here, and would have to find his information elsewhere.

 ----

After several more hours of searching, Lalna was beginning to lose hope. Wherever he went he was assaulted by disgusted glares and whispers and people pointing fingers at the blotches of purple creeping out from under his goggles and seeping through his coat. Eventually, he simply gave up and retraced his steps back to the Warehouse.

He arrived to find that it was almost empty. The lot was barren and the building itself devoid of furnishings and boxes. A few remnants of their original strike force still remained, but the main bulk of residents were Becropolian guards. Lalna could not see anyone he recognised, but it was of no matter. He had research to finish, books or not, and it was his top priority. He had to find the cure, he had to save Nano. It wasn’t too late, it _couldn’t_ be too late…

All of a sudden Lalna found himself grabbed from behind, his arms held hostage behind his back. There was a ‘ _click_ ’and someone pressed the barrel of a gun against his head.

“You are not welcome here.” They said. Lalna could not twist far enough to get a proper look at them. “You have ten minutes to vacate the city or you will be arrested! If you resist, you will be shot.”

“But I didn’t _do_ nuffin’!” Lalna protested, squirming.

“You are infected, you are a threat to our safety.”

“B-but I can’t _leave!_ I need to finish my research!”

“Your research will be confiscated upon your departure.”

“By who? _I’m_ the only one who can finish it, _I’m_ the only one who understands it!”

“Your work will be given to the Department of Varied Sciences for analysis.” If anything, the guard sounded bored.

“But- but-!” Lalna continued protesting even as he was escorted from the Warehouse by one of the armoured officers, who continued to shoo and shove and prod him all the way to the border of Becropolis and out into the wilderness. They left him standing on the grass in the wind, whimpering apologies to himself as he watched the gates swing shut.

 ----

The sirens began at sundown. They tore across the city, loud and deafening, crying out for an evacuation that could never come. Panic sparked in the streets as the residents of Becropolis rushed around as if locked in a haze.

Xephos watched the chaos below from a room high atop one of the tallest skyscrapers. He went through hell and back acquiring such a room just so he could see the antlike people racing around down below, see where dark clouds were beginning to gather far, far at the edge of the city. They sparked and rumbled and shaded the ground below with unnatural darkness, darkness that contained roiling purple grass and twisted monstrosities no doubt tearing at the walls and swarming the resistance.

Xephos shut his eyes and twisted his head away. Even with all the effort he put into acquiring it he found that he couldn’t watch such a sight with the knowledge of how badly he had failed. He had tried, truly tried, to help, to make a difference, to be the hero, but in the end he had accomplished absolutely nothing. His forces were either scattered or dead and the remainder no longer followed his orders, no longer respected him. Xephos traced the edges of the gun in his hands. Perhaps it was time to go home; at least he could make a difference from there, even if it meant committing an act of mass murder.

There was a quiet sound as the doorknob turned behind him. Xephos twitched and quickly hid his weapon beneath his coat. He clasped his hands behind his back and turned as Honeydew came stomping in. He grabbed the doorknob and slammed the door behind him with more force than was necessary.

“Yeesh, businessmen…”

“Had a nice walk?” Xephos asked. He tried very hard to smile, but couldn’t even manage a grimace.

“Oh it was wonderful.” Honeydew rolled his eyes. “You don’t think you could’ve picked a spot lower down? My feet’re tired from all this walkin’.”

“This was... the best.”

“The very best I’m sure.”

Xephos buried his face in his hands and took a long, shuddering breath. Why did Honeydew have to come _now_? Now, when Xephos could barely muster the energy to maintain his façade, to continue lying. Of course, he didn’t have to, but it was better than losing the one person he really cared about to the creature he’d become. He heard footsteps on carpet, and felt a hand on his arm.

“ _Why?_ ” The word felt thick on the back of his throat. “We saved the world once, why couldn’t we do it again?”

“It isn’t over yet. We just gotta keep fighting until, well, until it is, or until we win.”

“It _is_ over, it’s over and you fucking know it!” Xephos regretted the snarl as soon as it passed his lips. However, Honeydew’s expression only softened further. Xephos wished it wouldn’t.

“We thought it was over before, but it wasn’t. We won then, who’s sayin’ we can’t do it again?”

“We had hope then, we had a plan, we had a weapon!” It was taking all of Xephos’ remaining energy not to break down, not to scream and wail and cry that they had no chance, had nothing to fight with. Not to turn and try his hardest to crush Honeydew’s infuriatingly stubborn positivity.

In the end Xephos merely sank to his knees under the weight of his own thoughts. He could feel the cold metal of the gun beneath his coat poking into his shirt as he cradled himself, and wondered whether or not he would be able to use it in front of Honeydew.

The silence that followed was longer than it had the right to be.

“Xeph, please don’t do this. You can’t just give up.”

_I’m sorry_ , Xephos thought. He couldn’t bring himself to say it, however, as he could never quite express it at its full magnitude. Could never express exactly how sorry he was, for the past, for the present.

For the future.

Xephos was not quite sure why he did it. Perhaps it was out of frustration, perhaps he had always wanted to do it, or perhaps he knew that this might very well be his last chance before Honeydew’s faith in him was totally and irrevocably shattered. Honeydew had little time to be surprised before Xephos grasped his shoulders and kissed him. It was rough and slightly awkward but Honeydew didn’t seem to mind, judging by the way his hands rested on Xephos’ hips.

“But, I thought…” He trailed off, his eyes flicking away for only a fraction of a second. “You’re not that bad.”

Xephos shook his head. “I’m sorry…”

“…For what? ‘Cause you don’t gotta be sorry for kissin’ me.”

“No, not- I’m not-” Xephos took a shuddering breath. “I’m just sorry. Sorry for- sorry.”

_For giving up_ , he couldn’t bring himself to add, _for lying, for hurting you, for being indecisive, for everything I’m about to do_. Externally, all he did was shake his head. Honeydew was moving his thumb in a way that was making Xephos really want to stay right where he was, even though he had planned on shuffling away.

“Now, I can only think of a few things you’d be sorry for and none of ‘em are worth cryin’ over like that, not really.” Honeydew said. “Now come on, we have a battle to participate in.”

“I can’t, not like this.” Xephos could feel his shame coiling around his insides.

“What do you mean?”

“They don’t listen to me anymore, I’ve failed them. I can’t do anything, _trapped_ here.” Xephos rambled. There were tears streaming down his cheeks. “I have to go back, I have to go _home_.”

Honeydew seemed to realise what he meant only moments later. “But- Xeph, _no!_ ”

Xephos moved surprisingly quickly. He detached Honeydew’s hands and in one motion stood up and took several steps backwards. With his back nearly touching the window he drew the gun from his coat and pressed its barrel against his temple.

“Xeph, don’t do this.” Honeydew said gently, one arm half outstretched in what was probably supposed to be a soothing gesture. “Please, put it down.”

“I won’t die for real.” Xephos said, despising the smile he could not wipe from his face. His finger tightened just a fraction of an inch further.

“That don’t make it better. You can’t kill yourself, you’d be abandoning everyone. You gotta go down fightin’ like you’re supposed to, like we’re both supposed to.”

“I’m a coward, Honeydew, I’m not a hero like you. I can’t face it, I’m-” His breath hitched and he had to swallow hard to clear it. “-I’m so sorry.”

The last thing he saw was Honeydew’s look of crushing disappointment before there was a deafening ‘ _bang_ ’ and the world went black.

 ----

The Flux was touching the borders of Becropolis on all sides. Lalna walked among the trees, staring at the city between the trunks. For the most part, the Flux ignored him in its savage pursuit of the non-infected, but that didn’t mean he was safe from those hunting for lesser prey; and at the moment he definitely counted as lesser.

Finding the quietist, most secluded part of the forest that he could, Lalna rested his back against the trunk of a tree and slowly sank until he was sitting on the ground. The wind stirred the leaves all around and the patches of sky he could see between the branches were thick with dark purple clouds. Idly, he twirled a blade of grass around his finger.

Perhaps it _was_ too late. He was back to square one, again, and there was not enough time to build everything back up again. And even if he fled to Voltzan or Tekktopia or Agraria, even if he bought himself enough time to find the cure, it would mean abandoning Nano and he could never do that. Coward he may be, but he refused to leave a sister in need.

Faintly, Lalna could hear the shuffling of leaves. It was not a new sound, considering the wind, but this seemed different somehow, seemed almost like-

-something viciously sharp poked through the fabric across the side of his ribcage hard enough to draw blood. Lalna froze.

“Oh for fuck _sake!_ This is the third time this month! Do I really look like hostage material to you!?” He exclaimed to the owner of the sword. From unnervingly close behind him he heard a giggle. It was high and sickly sweet and turned Lalna’s blood to ice.

“What a fluffy little puppy, of _course_ you do~”

There was something hauntingly familiar about that voice. Lightning fast the sword shifted from prodding his ribs to resting across his throat. Lalna went cross-eyed attempting to look at the blade, which was thick and wide and the deepest shade of red. He managed to catch a glimpse of purple claws and black beads before they shifted from view. Lalna heard the crunch of shoes on grass and felt something brush his arm.

“Such a sweet little thing couldn’t hurt a fly.” His captor giggled. “Does the fluffy puppy know where dearest Lalnable is, by chance?”

Something clicked in Lalna’s brain. “A-are you Specimen Five?”

“Oh isn’t he smart? It would be such a shame if he lost his head!”

“Ok, ok I get it, I get - _ack!_ ” Lalna made a quiet choking noise as Five’s blade bit down further. “I-I don’t know where Lalnable is! I mean, I know Xephos has him somewhere but I don’t know where and last I saw him he was in the Warehouse but he’s not there anymore and _please don’t chop off my head._ ”

“Oh he’s useful, I think I’ll let him keep his head.” Five mused.

“Thank- thank you…?”

“And I think I’ll keep him as well.” She continued. “A little puppy to help me find dearest.”

_Why is it always me?_ Lalna thought. The blade at his throat retracted, but Lalna still did not move. He simply sat perfectly still and watched as Five skipped merrily past him. Her sword was already stowed in a scabbard at her waist, leaving her hands free to swing rhythmically by her sides. Her long, black hair was braided in places and almost seemed to flow in the wind, twisting around the two golden, skeletal wings protruding from her shoulder blades. When she turned to look at him, Lalna could see that she did not have a right eye, rather, a mass of eyes that swivelled and blinked irregularly. Lalna squirmed, feeling distinctly uncomfortable. He explored the cut on his throat with his fingers and looked away.

“Is he just going to sit there?” Five wondered.

“Thinking about it, yeah. Better than going back into the city and getting shot.” Lalna said dryly. He immediately regretted it when Five tilted her head at him, her hand closing around the hilt of her sword. “Alright fine standing up.”

Lalna brushed clippings of grass from his trousers and cracked his back, internally kicking himself for not having been carrying a weapon when he was banished. He would like to have had something to fight back with. Instead, he was forced to follow as Five skip-walked merrily between the trees.

“Uuuh, hey Five?” Lalna said somewhat awkwardly as he jogged along behind her. “H-how come you’re not all indoctrinated like Nano? Lalnable said you’d been taken..?”

“So dearest _does_ worry about me!” Five exclaimed, delighted. Then, like the flip of a switch, her voice morphed into something bone-chillingly vicious. “But Mother is such a bitch, she always loved Nano more! She was always so obedient, and _I_ was the loose end. Mother doesn’t want me, so Mother can’t have me! I’m too _good_ for her anyway.” And then she was right back to giggling.

“You’ve seen Nano? Is she alright? Is she alive?” Lalna asked eagerly.

“Puppy askes so many questions! ahee hee hee~” Five flipped a strand of hair over her shoulder and peered back at Lalna with her mass of right eyes. “She’s Mother’s pet now.”

“But is-”

“Maybe I should put a muzzle on the puppy…?”

“T-that’s weird.” Lalna pointed out, wincing. His head was swarming with questions but he held his tongue. Maybe he could wheedle some answers out of Five later, when she was in a better mood - or at least when she stopped threatening him every few minutes.

They continued on through the trees in silence, Five skipping along complacently while Lalna jogged behind her. It was definitely an odd experience, and while Five’s familiar appearance should have been somewhat soothing, the discrepancies in her behaviour only served to make Lalna even more uncomfortable.

He kept hoping for some kind of interruption, for something to leap out at them or explode or anything at all that would stop them, give him a chance to get away. Unfortunately, all was quiet and they made it back to the border of the city without interruption. Sighing, Lalna resigned to his fate and followed Five inside.


	13. March

There was something outside.

Lalnable sat hunched behind a large plate of steel, his makeshift weapon, a sharpened metal pole, clutched in his hands. The creature outside scratched at the door, howling and snuffling in low, raspy tones. He couldn’t see, but it sounded like it was making its way in.

Lalnable shifted his position when it began investigating the shell of the missile, keeping himself exactly opposite to it as it made its way around the base. One hand slipped into his pocket and drew out the remains of Xephos’ tracker; if he could distract the beast he might be able to escape. Barely daring to breathe, Lalnable tossed the bracelet over the heaps of metal. It hit the ground with an obnoxious clatter and the beast, with a snort, bounded over to it.

As quick as he could Lalnable slipped out from cover and beelined for the exit. A howl of rage followed him out, and he broke into a full on sprint, swearing all the way, when he heard the clatter of claws on concrete. Lalnable made the mistake of looking over his shoulder as he ran, and was presented with the sight of a huge, wolf-like creature, pelting towards him with its jaws agape. Its head was a mass of eyes and gnarled spikes protruded from its skull in the vague shape of horns. It let out another bloodthirsty howl.

Less than minute in it was clear that Lalnable could not outrun the creature. Bracing himself for a fight, he shifted his grip on his spear and dodged to the side right as the creature leapt. It landed at a skid and spun to leap again, snarling and drooling. Again, Lalnable dodged, but this time his foe was within stabbing range, and he plunged his spear into its flank as it passed. The creature shrieked in pain and, if anything, seemed even more enraged. Lalnable only just barely managed to retrieve his spear.

Bleeding violet ichor from the wound in its flank, the creature clawed at him. Lalnable tried to dodge again, but its claws raked across his back as he leapt, tearing fabric and digging painful gouges into his skin. He stumbled and the creature was upon him, its claws digging into his arm, pinning his spear to the ground. Lalnable closed his eyes and braced for the end. He could feel drool dripping onto his face and hot, pungent breath on his cheek.

And then all of a sudden, he couldn’t. The creature was howling and shrieking and whining in rage and was, most surprisingly, no longer upon him. Pain and fatigue flooded his limbs and the drool on his face reeked horribly. Lalnable opened his eyes and, for a moment, decided that he was either dead or hallucinating. Because there was Specimen Five, his dear Echo, and she was busy stabbing the flux creature to death. It must already be dead, judging by the deep slashes across its neck and ribs, but she continued anyway, until you could no longer see the fur on its upper half through all the blood.

“Echo?” Lalnable grunted. Sitting up was torture but he managed. “It feels like so long since I’ve seen you, my dear.”

Five sheathed her blood-soaked sword and bounded over to him. Kneeling down, she gave him a light kiss on the cheek.

“Same!” She giggled. “You have something on your face.”

“So do you.”

“Mm-hmm, you!”

And she kissed him, on the lips, slower this time. Lalnable allowed himself to feel how much he truly had _missed_ her. Now was not quite the time for anything _extended_ , however. This city was about to fall in on itself and he did not plan on being in harm’s way when it happened, nor did he plan on allowing Five to be.

“Can we go fight? I want to kill some of Mother’s stupid little pets.” Five asked.

Lalnable spared a glance at the corpse of the flux beast. “That’s dangerous.”

“ _I_ don’t care. _I_ want to go have some fun.”

“We will need some better artillery, then.”

“Oh, and I found us a little puppy to help~” Five motioned towards one of the nearby warehouses. Standing hunched and looking frankly disgusted, was Lalna. Well, one of the Lalnas. He visibly tensed when he saw Lalnable looking at him.

“So you have. I can’t see him being particularly useful, that one never had much spine.”

“Aww, but he could make good bait…?”

“Please, my dear. It’s not worth it.”

Five crossed her arms sulkily. Lalnable sucked in a pained hiss through his teeth when even the slightest movement sent spikes of pain up his spine. Gritting his teeth, he rose to his feet. His spear lay abandoned on the ground and he had no intention of bringing it with him. It was odd, but he felt an overwhelming sense of safety with Five at his side.

“Go on then, shoo.” Lalnable said, making shooing motions towards where Lalna stood. Lalna shuffled on the spot, looking nervous but not moving more than a step away. Lalnable growled. “Go, before I change my mind and decide I want to kill you.”

The threat of death seemed to be a significantly better motivator. Reluctantly, Lalna scooted away, shooting glances over his shoulder at Five up until he rounded the corner and disappeared from view.

“Well, I happen to know where we might be able to find some nice guns.” Lalnable said, rubbing his hands together and ignoring the pain in his arm.

“Ahee hee, lead the way!”

 ----

The gunshot echoed like a thunderclap. It rattled Honeydew’s very bones and sent a hammer down onto something already very cracked in his chest.

Blood, shimmering and blue, splattered the curtains and soaked into the rug, along with other things he’d rather not name. Honeydew took a few clumsy steps backwards and clutched the strap across his chest for lack of anything else to hold on to. There was a lump in his throat that refused to be swallowed and he could not tear his eyes away from the lifeless body of his dear friend.

Of course, Xephos would respawn. He was probably already alive and walking around back at Yoglabs, but there was always a tiny part of Honeydew that did not trust the cloning system, that filled him with a crushing fear that Xephos would not return.

Honeydew was certain that he was going to be sick if he stayed in that room a second longer, and evacuated as quickly as his lethargic limbs would allow. With his back to the door outside he focused on steadying his breathing. The corridor felt too large and empty, the fancy rooms of the apartment too alien, and for once he found himself at a loss for what to do. Without Xephos he felt very alone indeed.

For a moment Honeydew just stood there, mulling over all the different ways he could have prevented this. He could have been less demanding, perhaps, or more motivating, gentler. Whatever the case he had failed and there was nothing he could do about it now. He might as well just go out there and do his best to fight, and inevitably die, but that was fine because then he would get to go back to Yoglabs too.

Honeydew made his way numbly down to the ground floor and out into the streets. It was less crowded now, with most of the citizens already evacuated further into the city or up into the Sphere itself if they could afford it. He wondered where Lomadia and Nilesy had gone, whether they had fled with the other residents or if they were out on the edge, fighting. Who knew, certainly not Honeydew; they could be dead and he would have no idea.

Lighting clustered in the clouds far on the border, the graceful arcs somehow different to the rest in the way they jumped, the way they drew stitches through the sky. The ground beneath Honeydew’s feet shook, but it couldn’t be missiles because all the missiles had stopped. The tremors rose in bursts, like something marching its way slowly but inexorably forward. Cracks were appearing down the very centre of the street and he could see wisps of smoke wafting up from below. Honeydew drew his axe.

As the cracks deepened and the ground grew unstable, he decided that it was time to move on. As he ran he had half the mind to just leap inside the crevice, surrender whatever fiery doom waited at the bottom. It would be over quickly, but it would be dishonourable and he didn’t think he could stand such cowardice; it was not the dwarven way.

Honeydew left the cracks behind as he advanced further and further towards the edge of the city. The wind had picked up considerably and he was beginning to think it was more than just nature’s work. He could hear gunfire from up ahead, and see where distant fires belched smoke into the air.

Honeydew rounded a corner and ran straight into something that should not have been there. He yelped, the object yelped, and Honeydew only just barely stopped himself from burying his axe into the object’s side.

“Don’ttellthemI’mhere!” Lalna said frantically. His eyes were wide and his clothes and hair dishevelled. The flux on his cheeks and the exposed skin of his arms swirled and shimmered with energy.

“Don’t what?”

Lalna paused, his expression growing concerned. “Oh, Honeydew. I- I didn’t expect to see you, here, right now. Are you alright? Has something happened?”

“No, I’m fine.” The weight on Honeydew’s shoulders gained a few pounds, and he felt himself sag beneath it. “’S everything else that’s not.”

“Tell me about it…” Lalna mumbled. “I shouldn’t even be here…”

“Then why _are_ you here?”

Lalna opened his mouth, and then shut it again with a ‘clack’. “That’s not important.”

“So we both have secrets, that’s fair.” Honeydew absently weighed his axe in his hands. “I have a battle to join. If you want to come I won’t stop you.”

“I don’t think I’m really front line material at the moment. I think I’ll, just, go, dosomethingelse. Provide support from the back, you know?”

Honeydew grunted. Without another word, he swerved around Lalna and continued his steady trot down the road.

“Good luck.” He heard Lalna call after him.

“You too…” Honeydew muttered, too low for Lalna to hear. The gunfire was getting louder, accompanied by roars and screams of rage and fear. Still, Honeydew headed towards it with the stalwart determination of someone ready to go down swinging.

 ----

“Great work Lalna what the fuck are you going to do now.” Lalna grumbled to himself as he walked. His hands were shoved so deep into his pockets that they could be mining for diamonds. “Just gonna walk into the city where everyone wants you dead. Just gonna walk along the road talking to yourself you fucking madman.”

His Flux was almost unbearably itchy. It roiled beneath his skin as if trying to break free from his body and his vision was dotted with swirls and flickers. He could _feel_ something on the edge of the city, watching, calling. A part of him wanted to rush out to meet it, but he wasn’t inclined to listen anytime soon.

Lalna stopped in his tracks. There was something coming, and it didn’t sound like anything that belonged in a city like Becropolis. He dived behind a sickly hedge and stayed perfectly still as the steady ‘ _clip-clip-clip_ ’ of hoof-beats drew nearer and nearer. At first, Lalna was convinced that it was a Flux beast, but that quickly changed when he heard the voices.

“Is this the city? It looks pretty crap to me.”

“Yeah, the fuck are those things? Are those _buildings?_ What are they made of?”

“I think it’s called ‘steel’. The Overworlders like to use it to make buildings.”

The hoof-beats were right beside him now, and Lalna could see through the branches that they definitely did not belong to any creature of the Flux. The hooves of some equine creature were ruby red with heat and left scorch marks where they fell. He could not see the riders from his position, but he could hear what they were saying crystal clear now.

“Gah, it doesn’t matter. We’re only here to assess whether or not this place is worth our effort. The King will be very displeased if it turns out we woke him for nothing.”

“Yeah, so it better be or we’ll all be toast.”

Until now, the third rider had not spoken, and, upon hearing their voice, Lalna wished it had stayed that way.

“ _Are you branding me a liar?_ ”

“Y’know what, if this turns out to be some kind of ruse, then yeah, I am. I bet my horns you’re just messing with us all.”

“I dunno, he _has_ spent the most time here, I’d say he’s pretty trustworthy.”

“Hmph, I’m not convinced.”

“ _If you truly did not trusssst me we would not be up here. I, for one, definitely would not._ ”

“Yeah that’s a good point, why _are_ you allowed up here? What’s so special about you that made the council decide to bend your banishment?”

“ _Becausssse I have done more than you ever will in your sssssorry life!_ ”

The hoof-beats were growing distant now. As much as he wanted to hear more, Lalna decided that revealing himself would not be a very wise idea. So, he waited until he could no longer hear voices before slipping out from his hiding spot and heading in the exact opposite direction.

Lalna snuck through the streets for what felt like ages. He knew he should leave, for his own safety, but he was stuck clinging to a faint hope that he would be able to find Specimen Five again, be able to find out what happened to Nano.

He had made it well into his third circuit around the warehouse district when everything fell apart.

 ----

The room was dark, and there was… quite a lot inside.

From floor to ceiling stood banks of monitors, clean white tables, and various scientific instruments. The only light inside shone bright and tinted blue from the many screens and left the edges of the room shrouded in darkness. The clicks and whirrs of computers echoed endlessly.

Xephos stood with his hands hovering above the keyboard. There were several chairs, but for some reason the thought of sitting down was distinctly uncomfortable; It was like committing, a sealed deal, and he was not quite sure if he was truly prepared to do this.

“ _Confirm launch?_ ” The computer was asking. It blinked slowly at him in a way that shouldn’t have been as enticing as it was.

Xephos’ hands dropped until they were resting lightly on the keys. It was so tempting to just hit ‘enter’. The voice in his head was screaming for him to do it, telling him in an ageless purr how _good_ it would feel to have such control over so many lives, how _powerful_ it would make him.

“ _End them._ ” The voice said. “ _Who cares if it makes you a monster?_ ”

“I do…” Xephos whispered aloud.

“ _Do you?_ ”

He ripped his hands away from the keyboard as if it had burned him. What was he _doing?_ Mittret was the largest producer of nuclear warheads in Voltzan, if not all of Minecraftia, and to think he had planned on launching them _all_ , all at once, a rain of destruction that would reduce most of Electria to ash and rubble.

“ _You can still do it. Just press the key._ ” The voice said.

Xephos made a small noise in the back of his throat. It felt like his insides were being compacted, his lungs sucked of all their air, and the more he looked at the little blinking message the more tempted he was to give in.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Xephos turned so fast that he banged his arm on the edge of the desk. In his concentration, he had not noticed the door opening.

“I’m really disappointed in you.” Honeydew said quietly. The bright backlight of the corridor made his expression hard to read, but his eyes seemed to glint more than normal. Silently, he turned and shut the door behind him.

“H-how did you find me?” Xephos uttered.

“I asked some people, got pointed here.” Honeydew shrugged. “But that’s not important.”

He took a couple steps forward so that the light from the monitors glinted off the various bits of iron and gold that decorated his person. Xephos tried desperately to think of something to say, something to justify his actions, but came up with nothing - at least, nothing that surpassed ‘unbearably flat’. Honeydew was staring straight past him at the array of monitors with an expression that suggested he was absorbing it all.

“What _happened_ to you Xeph? Why are you doing this?” Honeydew wondered. “The Xephos I know would never murder someone in cold blood, much less an entire _city._ ”

Xephos twisted to look over his shoulder. The screen was still flashing its message, and he was horrified that he’d ever been tempted by it at all. He tasted bile.

“Now, I don’t know half of what happens in this place and I ain’t gonna pretend to, but if you’re plannin’ what I think you’re plannin’ I’m begging you; please don’t do it. I... I don’t want you to become a murderer…”

Xephos let out a sob that was probably meant to be a laugh at one point. He shook his head. “You’re too late.”

His throat was so tight with the effort of not crying that it felt like he had swallowed a cactus. Honeydew was looking at him in a way that sent tiny pricks of ice through his heart.

“Am I? Well, I guess my old friend was further gone than I thought…” he looked away, and then back again. “My pool of forgiveness isn’t endless, despite what everyone seems to think. And shit Xeph it’s already runnin’ very low.”

“I can’t- I can’t just do _nothing_.”

“You keep sayin’ that, but really you can. You _can_ just do nothing, so if you want to launch those missiles you’re going to have to murder me too.” Honeydew’s stare seemed far more intense than usual. “I won’t let you do this to yourself.”

Xephos stood frozen in place. The message kept blinking at him encouragingly, even though time had stopped. Very, very slowly, he reached out and hit ‘backspace’. Xephos let his hand slide limply from the keyboard as the screen flicked back to normal, and he slumped to the floor, into a little pile of ill-fitting lab clothes.

“I’m sorry…”

“Do you really mean that? ‘Cause you say it a lot and I’m not sure anymore…”

There was nothing more to do, nothing more to say, so Xephos gave in and allowed himself to cry. How he wished he could just compress himself into a little diamond and never be seen again. There was a sigh, the heavy clomp of boots on tile, and Honeydew pulled as much of Xephos as he could into a hug.

“No use cryin’ Xeph.” He said, although it sounded like he was on the verge of breaking down himself. Xephos let himself fall limp, partially as an attempt to slip from Honeydew’s grasp and partially because he had no more energy left.

“They’ll do fine without us.” Honeydew murmured. With one hand he smoothed back Xephos’ hair. “They’ll do fine. There’s plenty of time. You tried your best, it’s OK.”

“S-stop being so nice to me.” Xephos sobbed into the mass of fluff that was Honeydew’s beard. “I’ve done h-horrible things.”

“Do you regret them?”

Xephos mumbled something incoherent and slumped down further. The voice in his head was screaming at him for being so weak, hissing accusations with all its might.

“Come on spaceman, let’s get out of here.” Honeydew said tiredly. He released Xephos, who slumped to the ground like jelly and laid there for a few long seconds before forcing himself to his feet. His head spun and he felt nauseous. Yes, leaving would be preferable; then perhaps he could go to sleep and say that way for the rest of his life.

Still sniffling, Xephos hung his head and shuffled out into the bright white corridor.


	14. Finale: New Horizons

The world around him was chaos. Wind roared so loud as to block out all other sound, and gusted hard enough to knock Lalna from his feet. He clung to a lamppost and watched in shock as the sky tore itself apart.

The clouds parted like fabric being ripped open. Sparks of energy danced around its edges and through it millions of stars could be seen. Something was stirring inside, and from the breach descended the largest, and first, dragon Lalna had ever seen. Its wings were the source of the wind, fanning the city with each gargantuan wingbeat. Its minions swarmed down around it, spreading out over the city like a swarm of scaly bats. Through squinted eyes Lalna thought he could see a flash of red among the black.

The dragon queen’s eyes swept back and forth. For a split second he felt her gaze wash over him, filling him with an animalistic fear, an aching cold, and then it was gone. The ground shook as she landed, her claws digging deep trenches into the ground. It was a good thing that the wind had stopped because Lalna needed the use of both his hands to block his ears as she roared.

“Enderdragons.” Lalna whispered to himself. It was Rythian, it must have been; there was no other explanation. He gazed fearfully at the distant pillar that was the Queen, and let out a little sigh of relief to find that she was not looking in his direction. She looked almost surreal in the distance, her huge form towering easily above the shabby warehouses and apartments that lined the edges of the city. She was gazing with intensity at the northern edge.

Lalna, having decided that there was nothing better for him to do, scrambled to his feet and raced north. His knees ached from where they had been pressed harshly against the ground and his back was sore from its multiple collisions with the pavement.

" _Ym nerdlihc, mraws ot rieht dia!"_

Lalna winced as the voice washed over him, painfully loud and thick with otherworldly tones. It was answered by screeches and roars and grunts from the tide of drakelings that circled high above. Lalna could spot one or two swoop down to land among the buildings.

He knew he was getting close to the edge when the scene around him began to morph into a battlefield. The air was thick with smoke and the scent of blood and decay. Tendrils of Flux slithered slowly down the edges of the street, dragging away corpses and investigating cars and foliage. The ground was cracked and the buildings ruined by Flux and fire. Up ahead, he could see several battles taking place.

Lalna made a point to avoid most of the fighting, being severely underequipped as he was. He had several close calls with Flux beasts and Becropolian military, but managed to make it nearly to the edge of the city with all his limbs intact. From his rooftop vantage point Lalna truly got a feel for the scale of this battle. Looking at the rest of the city, it was hard to tell what all the fuss was about. Now, he realised that he should have been more concerned than he was.

For blocks and blocks the battles raged, the Flux slowly but steadily tearing at the resistance as it advanced its sickly infection deeper into the city. At points, it had almost reached the edge of where the Sphere sat suspended above the lower city. The wings and heads of dragons could be seen poking up above the rooftops, scattered throughout the streets and out into the plains beyond.

Lalna barely dared to believe that they might actually win this - and he would have gone on to properly believe if it wasn’t for the call.

It was so smooth; a sweet, ethereal song that slipped through the gaps in his mind and filled him with a pleasant sensation, a warm bubbling in the pit of his stomach and a layer of soft silk draped over his mind. It was so hard to focus through such ultimate pleasure that Lalna had a hard time preventing himself from falling off his perch.

There was something on the edge of the city, over the hill. It was powerful, and it was angry. Angry that its minions were being killed, angry that the Becropolians were putting up such a fight, angry that it was being overpowered. Lalna felt all of this as if it were his own.

The parts of his skin that had already been converted felt like they were on fire, and he could _feel_ it spreading. It crept up his arms with ease, across his back, down his legs and neck with such a feather light touch that it was hard to believe that it could harm him. The song in his head was singing with meaningless words and Lalna was only too happy to submit.

 ----

The gale-force winds ripped Lomadia from the sky. Her wingbeats were useless against a superior force and only served to slow her down enough as to save her limbs upon impact with the side of a building. Unfortunately, it was a skyscraper and left her with only a small ledge and window to cling to as the winds blew back her clothes and hair and dislodged feathers from her wings. Terrified, she clung with an iron grip until the wind slowed and died and she was left gasping and shaking on her perch. Soon after, the ground shook with one huge shockwave.

Timidly, Lomadia extended her wings to examine them for damage. Everything seemed to be in order, and so she took off once again. To her surprise, she found her airspace occupied by hundreds of dragons. They created a slalom of lashing tails, deadly claws and powerful wingbeats and Lomadia had to focus to avoid being hit by anything. She used her rare moments of respite to sneak glances at the battle raging below.

In the confusion, she had lost sight of Nilesy. She returned to the street where he had been fighting, but he was nowhere to be found and the road was overrun with monsters. Swooping lower, Lomadia slowed her pace and swept the alleys.

She found him among the dumpsters; a huge, black cat-like creature crouched low to the ground. He perked up considerably when he saw Lomadia descending. She touched down lightly, folded her wings neatly at her back, and jogged over to him.

“You alright?”

Nilesy flicked his ears and nodded his head. With one claw-tipped finger he pointed to the sliver of street that they could see outside the alley. It was covered with flux and from out of sight echoed the shrieks of monsters. Lomadia could only assume that he had fled when things got a little too heated. She was surprised that he was even fighting at all - then again, Mr. Cat _was_ in danger and he fancied himself as quite the fatherly figure to the little rascal.

“I’m going to go investigate the ruckus up north. You gonna be okay here?” Lomadia asked. Nilesy nodded again. He placed a paw on her arm and, even though he couldn’t speak, she could just feel the “good luck” wafting off of him.

So up and up Lomadia flew, until she was higher than the very top of the Sphere and could see the entire city sprawling below her like a map. She could see something happening past the edge of the city. The dragons had converged and were swarming so heavily as to block their foe from view. The ground was visibly hot and the air thick with dragonfire.

Lomadia flew closer.

Static nipped at her skin and the air was cold and moist. Far below she could see some kind of huge wisp or elemental of sorts. The dragons were swarming around it, but their attacks did nothing to its impenetrable shielding. Occasionally, it would send out zaps at the dragons, sending a few crashing to the ground each time. In addition, something was happening to the Flux and its allies. They were co-ordinating their attacks where they weren’t before, utilising advanced tactics that simple beasts couldn’t fathom.

“ ** _Hguone, luof erutaerc, woh erad uoy rethguals ym nerdlihc! Tahw si ruoy esoprup?_** ”

The roar rang loud and clear, legible even from so high in the sky. The dragon queen was stalking in slow, menacing circles around the battlefield. The Flux sang a reply, but Lomadia could not make any sense of it.

“ ** _Tub uoy od ton evah taht thgir. Dnats nwod._** ”

Again, the Flux sang its incomprehensible reply. The dragon queen said nothing. She had stopped her stalking, and raised her head high. Lomadia could not see what she was doing from so high up and so swooped lower.

The dragons were fleeing to their queen one by one, taking refuge beneath her wings and behind her talons and tail. Her belly was alight with bright violet light and smoke was curling from the corners of her mouth. When the very last drakeling had reached safety she let loose with a gargantuan blast of flame. It shot from her open maw with the force of a fire hose and collided with the elemental’s shield dead on. It enveloped the entire area and seemed to burn away the very air itself. The grass flash-combusted and the dirt melted into a black crust.

When the flames cleared and the smoke dissipated, Lomadia was shocked to discover that the queen’s attack had done nothing. The elemental was still swirling with its shield intact. If it could show emotion, she was sure it would be very smug indeed.

The Queen let out an angry roar as the ground leapt up to envelop her ankles. It grasped at her legs and sent tendrils arching over her back and curling around her neck, attempting to pull her to the ground. Her drakelings were hacking at her bonds with their claws, but the Flux, hungry for its new prey, did not relent.

The wave of energy that the elemental let off could be felt among the clouds. It was not exactly a violent discharge, but left Lomadia with a tingling feeling that something was not right within her. If the dragons below felt it they showed no signs.

With one mighty leap the Queen snapped her bonds and launched herself up into the air. With a roar of rage she launched herself at the elemental. Her gargantuan bulk would have crushed it like a twig had it not been protected by its shield. The Queen’s drakelings followed suit and engaged in a battle of flames and sparks, fifty-to-one.

Lomadia’s focus was jarred from the battle below by a bolt of lightning that struck the top of the Sphere. She was glad that she had lowered herself for she would surely have been hit otherwise, and such a powerful bolt would have fried her to the core. Wary of further strikes, she descended down, down, down to the streets below.

 ----

Mother was distressed. Nano didn’t like it, the way her energy had been sucked away. Nano enjoyed Mother’s attention; she enjoyed being a good daughter.

Nano could hear her singing to her children, such sweet songs. She was ecstatic that Mother had allowed her some control over her army, all the better to impress. Almost immediately Nano scanned the city and picked out where Lalna was hiding. He didn’t need to hide, Mother would provide. Sure, she was strict, but how would they behave without discipline? Nano had latched on the tiny fragment of Flux within him and brought him to her, to the southern edge of Becropolis where Nano was waiting for her call to attack. The forces she had been granted were roiling with impatience and hunger bridled only by the tight leash Nano held on them.

Her feet left puffs of energy and crackles of foul magic as she touched down lightly on the slick purple grass. Her hair flowed in a metaphysical breeze and the tattered edges of her cheongsam fluttered and rippled. Lalna stood dazed before her, standing with his usual slouch but without the spark of intelligence that always resided just behind his eyes. Nano wondered why he looked so sad - after all he was Mother’s now, and Mother always provided. They would be safe now, they would have the world soon enough.

Nano gave Lalna a quick hug and wordlessly ushered him to stand beside her. She was surprised at how easily he obeyed, at his zombie-like shuffle. But it was of no matter, they were together again, the Flux Buddies forever.

Nano smiled distantly and raised herself up off of the ground. This was going to be easy.

 ----

The lightning bolt, as Lomadia soon found, was merely the first of many a happenstance.

The battle of dragon vs Flux showed no signs of slowing on the northern front and the battles among the streets were nothing lesser. It was only when Lomadia touched down that she realised that the ground was shaking. It was not a mild quake, but a forceful pounding that sent rattles through her bones. Immediately she wished she were back up in the air, partially out of curiosity and partially because the shaking was almost unbearable. There was a deafening explosion from somewhere to her right and suddenly the air was filled with shards of molten glass. The grind of tearing steel and continuous crash of concrete followed soon after.

Lomadia took cover behind a concrete barricade as the streets were sprinkled and washed with scalding air. The Sphere groaned and listed unstably on its struts. Lomadia risked a glance up and saw that a huge chunk had been taken out of it, not shattered so much as _melted_. There were _things_ ascending above the rooftops on wings of pure flame. They looked like dragons, five of them, huge and twisted and silhouetted by smoke from below. Their appearances could only be described as monstrous; with gnarled scaly skin the colour of obsidian and long, curving ram’s horns. Their bellies glowed like soft embers and their long, harpoon-tipped tails swished slowly below them as they hovered.

For a moment all was still. Lomadia sat transfixed, her gaze unwillingly locked on the figures in the sky. Then, like the drop of a pin, the dragons shot like flaming bullets towards where the enderdragon queen and her minions were locked in battle. Not wanting to miss a single second, Lomadia was once again up in the air.

The battle seemed to rage with renewed hope. Lomadia wished she could do more, but felt like attempting to participate in something so monumental would only end in misery. And so she watched, anxiously, and waited.

The series of events that happened next progressed very quickly, or so it seemed. The dragons breached the shield of the elemental with one mighty push and were atop it. The battlefield descended into shrieks and thick purple miasma. A hatch in the metal plating atop the dome opened and from it soared one, single missile. Plain and white, stark against the thick grey sky, it arched and dropped.

The resulting explosion not only destroyed terrain but sent out a wave of bright yellow light. It travelled slowly, uninhibited by terrain, and brushed soft yellow fingers though the grass and over the rooves of buildings. It did not take Lomadia long to realise what it was doing.

She let out a shriek of laughter and dropped a few feet with the force of how hard she pumped her fists in the air. Wherever the light touched it left wisps of magic and melted the Flux, purple fungus sliding away into a thin slime and then nothing. Beasts bellowed in pain as the flux was melted from their bodies. Those who were converted were reverted to their natural forms, leaving bewildered animals standing, dazed, in the streets, and those who were formed of the Flux itself simply dissolved into nothing.

As soon as the wave had cleared three more missiles flew from the dome. They, too, climbed then dropped, one hitting the fields to the south, one to the east, and one atop the chaos to the north. Dragons scattered and roared in the resulting explosions, taking to the skies. At the epicentre of the explosion as it was, the elemental was vaporised, it’s dying shriek cut into silence. The cheer from the streets was monumental.

Lomadia landed among a cluster of confused wolves, marvelling at how clean the ground was, not a speck of Flux remaining. The ethereal wave was still washing over her and she could feel its curious fingers inspecting her. She couldn’t quite believe it herself. She had a feeling like the battle was far from over, but at this rate victory was ensured.

Lomadia started off at a brisk jog. She hoped Nilesy was alright, that he had laid low. Finding him should not be hard; all she would need to do was ask anyone if they had seen a large black cat. She huffed happily to herself. They might be homeless, but they were not lost. Who knows, perhaps they could still find a way to help.

 ----

Lalna came to his senses slowly. There was grass beneath him, soft and moss-like under his cheek. It was, most shockingly, green. It was all green; the grass, bushes, leaves; no purple in sight. Lalna blinked furiously to clear his vision and sat up unsteadily, nearly blacking out in the resulting rush. He could barely remember what had happened, having witnessed it all as if in a dream. He remembered dragons and missiles and an agonising pain.

But he was alive. Curiously, he rolled up his sleeves and found that his skin was back to its usual colour. His sight was sharper than ever and he only just then realised how bad it had gotten. There was a dull ache in his right leg, but he suspected that it was more bruising than anything else - at least he hoped. Lalna blew a raspberry and looked around.

The flux monsters that had surrounded him had gone, nothing left in their wake. The hillside seemed so empty without them. There was a crater blasted deep into the ground, and Lalna was thankful that he had not been closer when the missile hit. It was a miracle that he had not been killed by any of the resulting rubble that had been forcibly blown from the rock and left strewn across the ground.

Lalna’s eyes caught on a lump of shredded fabric lying prone on the grass and he shot to his feet. His vision dissolved into static and his leg protested, but he kept running through it. He tripped once and crashed to the ground, gaining another bruise or two, but hardly noticed the pain. He made it there within seconds.

“…Nano?” Lalna croaked, his voice feeling rough as sandpaper in his throat. She did not move, or blink, or breathe. Her skin was no longer the sickly, translucent purple, and her eyes were back to their natural brown, the better to reveal the deep crimson that was sluggishly spreading across her torso.

Lalna felt no pulse beneath the fingers he had against her neck.

“I’m sorry…” He whimpered, his hands falling limp to his sides. No matter how hard he tried he could not take his eyes off of Nano’s lifeless face, her expression still one of shock even in death. “It’s all my fault. I-I’ve been a terrible brother…”

Lalna grasped handfuls of grass to remind himself that he did, actually, exist. Tears blurred his vision to obscurity and forged trails down his cheeks. A tiny, drawn-out moan was all that made it past the blockage in his throat.

“I should have been more vigilant, I should have taken it seriously… But we won, we won Nano. We won…”

Lalna tore the grass up by its roots and, with a scream, tossed it as hard as he could. The lumps fell lamely with barely a sound.

And it wasn’t fair. They had used _his_ technology, _his_ research, he was sure of it - and they had killed her with it. How dare they murder her with the very thing meant to save her. Lalna wished with all his might that he could drown them in Flux, could throttle the life out of them. Lalnable too, perhaps most of all. It wasn’t _fair_ , how he and Five got to be happy and walk out alive, while he had done nothing but good and was punished for it. And maybe, maybe, Lalna was so angry because he knew he could have prevented it.

With a softness much at odds with the rage boiling inside him, Lalna reached out and closed Nano’s eyes for the last time. Then, he stood with the air of a roiling storm and set out at a stalk towards the city. It loomed, crippled but proud, in the distance, belching smoke and ash into the air. Faintly, he could hear the sound of cheering.

Lalna walked through the streets, barely noticing the events occurring around him. He followed the signs toward where the populace had gathered. They busied themselves cleaning and repairing and putting out fires, and while many were dead the city rejoiced in its victory. He had no doubt that there would be fireworks tonight.

Lalna found what he was looking for at the very edge of the city. Lalnable was preoccupied with the vehicle he was repairing and so did not notice Lalna approaching until he was slammed into the unyielding metal and made to face him.

“Well look who it is!” Lalnable wheezed past the hand around his throat. “Such a pity you survived.”

He lashed out and kicked Lalna between the legs and, with one hard shove, sent him sprawling backwards. Lalna cracked the back of his head on the pavement and an array of stars exploded behind his eyes. Dizzily, he could only watch as Lalnable sauntered over and have him a sharp kick in the ribs with one hardened boot-tip.

“A little angry, are we?” Lalnable’s voice came distant and muffled. There was a giggle from behind him.

Specimen Five fared far better than Lalna had expected, given her origins. Her arms were heavily bandaged, but she carried her heavy sanguinite cleaver like it was but a piece of cardboard. There was a swatch of bloodstained fabric tied tight over where her mass of eyes had been. Lalna made to get up, or at least struggle into a sitting position, but Lalnable gave him another kick and he curled inward around the impact.

“The little puppy has returned. Can we play with him this time, dearest?”

Lalnable shrugged. Never in his life had Lalna expected to look at him imploringly, but it was his first instinct as Five knelt down, grinning a devilish grin, and pressed the tip of her sword against his collarbone. It drew a pinprick of blood; Lalna winced. He had the feeling that, if he didn’t get out fast, she was going to disembowel him.

“N-Nano’s dead.” Lalna said. The words stung but he was desperate for some kind of distraction. The two clones only grinned wider.

“Oh, what a shame.” Lalnable said sarcastically, right about the same time as Five’s, “Good riddance.”

Lalna felt a spark of rage ignite within him. While it wasn’t as effective as he’d hoped, Five had been, more or less, distracted, giving Lalna an opening in which to act. He hit Five’s cleaver away with the back of his hand and rolled sideways. Scrambling to his feet, he took off as fast as he could down the street.

“Oooh, puppy _does_ want to play!” Five called after him. He could hear her footfalls as she gave chase, but didn’t dare look back. His head was still spinning from his injury, but he knew that he would be a dead man if he stopped.

Lalna dodged and weaved through random alleys and around cars and deep craters. Eventually, Five lost interest and Lalna could no longer hear her pursuing. He didn’t stop running, however, until he reached the very edge of the city and was well into the wilderness beyond.

Tears stung his eyes as he slowed to a walk. He didn’t know where to go now, and didn’t know what to do, but he decided that walking until he collapsed was a good bet. His head was still reeling in denial, and clogged with a distant pain that he knew would eventually burst forth to consume him.

But for now, he walked, and walked, and didn’t stop walking until he could no longer stand.

 ----

Xephos could not believe his eyes.

Staring at the blue-tinted screen before him he watched in amazement as the waves of energy ripped over the landscape around Becropolis. He replayed the footage over and over again, marvelling at the way the dragons scattered and the evil taint was instantly and violently vaporised.

Xephos paused the playback and scooted his chair backwards. There were demands from Mittret already piling up on his desk, something about needing extra missile shells. He paid them no mind and raced from his office, his crisp white lab coat billowing out in a flurry behind him.

Xephos slammed open the door to Honeydew’s quarters. With a cry of surprise, Honeydew toppled from his bed and hit the floor with a heavy thump. Rubbing his side with one hand, he leaned an elbow on the sheets and raised a bushy ginger eyebrow. Xephos found himself suddenly at a loss for words.

“You were right.” He croaked softly.

“About what?”

“They did it. They defeated it.”

“They di- _Oh!_ Oh?”

Honeydew scrambled to his feet. With a hurried gesture Xephos ushered him from the room and led him all the way down to his office. He showed Honeydew the playback.

“Damn, how did they do that?” He paused thoughtfully. “Looks a bit like Lalna’s work, actually.”

“Maybe? I don’t know, it’s all classified.”

Xephos only managed to hold himself together for all of three seconds before he snapped and snatched Honeydew up in a tight hug. He only just barely managed to stop himself from crying - he could do plenty of that later. Honeydew gave him a pat on the back.

“Thank you.” Xephos mumbled. He didn’t have to specify exactly _why_ he had said it.

“All in a day’s work.” Came Honeydew’s muffled reply from where his face was squished against Xephos’ stomach. Xephos released him and took a step back.

“I do have to wonder though-” Honeydew paused, then grinned, “Whatever happened to those rocket propelled geckoes?”

Xephos smiled. A tear managed to break free and trickle down his cheek. He quickly wiped it away with his coat sleeve.

“Come, I’ll show you.”

 ----

The castle was quiet. A thin layer of dust lay draped over every surface and the thick silence was only occasionally broken by the drip of water from last night’s rainfall or the howling of wind outside. The air smelled of taut magic and weathered parchment, a painfully familiar mixture that sent fresh stabs of grief through Zoeya’s chest as she drifted ghost-like through the darkened basalt halls.

She knew she couldn’t stay here for long. This was no longer her home, with Rythian gone, and she saw no point in hanging around where she had no purpose. She just wanted to see the halls one last time, the furniture and brickwork that she herself had created.

One of Rythian’s favourite spellbooks sat abandoned on his shaggy linen-covered bed. Zoeya picked it up and brushed the dust from its cover; The Mechanics of Alchemical Transmutation - he had written it himself. After a moment’s thought she tucked it into her bag and drifted from the room as not to disturb the spirits that rested there.

Zoeya visited each of the rooms in turn, scouring them for trinkets of value, sentimental or otherwise. When she had no more rooms to search, she left. The wind blew her long scarlet hair and burgundy cape to the side and eddied in the sand around her feet. She looked out over the desert, toward the mountains beyond.

This chapter of her story had ended, or so it seemed, but a new one was opening up before her. Teep limped up to her, favouring his broken leg and clutching his own pack to his side. They shared a mutual look and together set out into the dunes without looking back-

-Oh, well, maybe _one_ little glance wouldn’t hurt.

 

[THE END.]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so we reach the end of the story. Thank you all for joining me on this adventure and I hope to see you all in the next one. Goodbye and goodnight.


End file.
